Get Your Freak On
by Lenipez sideshow
Summary: time continums are tricky things,some people get the bad end of the deals.its a long story, and things arn't quite as simple as they apear. takes place durring jak3.
1. while babe watching

Right then, it's short, but I need to set this thing all up, so the first few chapters will be a little short and slow. Stick round if you want, don't if ya don't. don't ask about the title, I don't know! Theres a note in my note book that says gadzooks! I think zippies getting his freak on. I thought it was better than thinking of something original. Hit it Clue!

Clue: first off your putting me in your retarded story, second of all you don't own squat, third off this better be good cause you waste 7th period every day to day dream this thing!

Shut up! Don't listen to him and go read the story! Don't forget to review!

---get your freak on---

Daxter was finding it frustratingly hard to get any respect in this city. Being fuzzy and orange didn't help. It had been almost two years now and all he had found out was that Jak was somewhere in the prison, and even that much had taken him longer than he thought it would.

It would be easy enough to sneak in but just couldn't find a way in so the sneaking could commence.

Though Daxter had to admit it, Haven city wasn't all bad, at least the women were scadley dressed. From his lounging position on the bench of the water fountain near the statue of Mar He watched a hot elf chick in short shorts and a tank top strut by.

Daxter was doing the same thing he did every day at noon: Babe watching.

He was watching another particularly attractive pointy eared woman when his view was suddenly replaced with a very large shadow.

Bright blue eyes glared down at him from under unkept ebony hair," What's the likes of you doing around here?" he transferred the cigarette hanging on his lip to his hand and taped it on the blue facial tattoo on his cheek as he exhaled.

Daxter jumped up, "What's it to you! It's a free country isn't it! I can be any where I want." He crossed his small orange arms and tried to look tough.

The man seemed to bend down as if taking a closer look at him, "I see…" he mumbled to himself, "And no it's not free," he said rather icily.

Daxter got the immediate feeling that this guy was like a rock; he wasn't even annoyed with him like most people were when he opened his mouth. He wasn't even surprised that he had opened it at all.

"My people tell me your looking for a way inside the baron's prison," he took another drag of his cigarette.

"I'm listening," Dax assured, he'd do any thing at this point to get in there; even give up his midday babe watching.

"Follow me," and the he just walked away with out a second word, leaving Daxter to negotiate the crowd himself.

Since being otsel size made this a bit of a challenge, he soon began to hate the big black boots and the swishing hem of the long brown duster as he followed the strange guy thru the sea of legs.

They stopped out side the prison wall near an air duct with an electric blue grate covering it. Dax rolled his eyes. He'd already tried this way. Any idiot could think of this, the only problem was that the grate happened to be made out of a horribly fleshing burning substance commonly known as a force field.

"Hey buddy I tried this already, and trust me burnt otsel fur don't smell good."

The young man ignored him and crouched down in front of the grate. The sound of unsnapping buttons was heard and then a few moments later a thud. He stood up buttoning a snap on his gloves, revealing a perfectly safe passage into the prison.

Daxter stared at the new opening, "Whoa…Can you teach me that one 'o' mighty mysterious one?"

Surprisingly the man grinned slightly and saluted, "gods speed orange lightning," he then turned and walked away into the crowd and disappeared, as unexpectedly as he had arrived.

Dax looked from where the mysterious guy had disappeared to the open grate and back again.

"Hhmm... Orange Lightning? Got a nice ring to it…." He mused as he scampered down the duct.


	2. Irish coffee

Alrighty roo, thanks for the reviews!

Krin:…..good point nobody does do nuthin for free in haven. I kind of over looked that. Never worry I fixes! And yes, there is an overly complex plot in this. It might be on the long side but I will prevail. O.o this part is during Jak 2 but after this, it moves along. this is just crap that I wanted in here so I wouldn't have to explain it later. you think i did Dax well? i was worried about that.

ShiNoShinigami : Yes Mr. Mysterious man is hot, and no he's not torn, his tattoo is just a little rectangle on his cheek. but torn rocks too. I got a picture; if you want it, send me an email (its in my bio)

Oh, any suggestions for better title welcome. (P.s. tomorrow is international cookie and hug day so all reviews get cookies, I don't like hugs. So blah! )

---Get Your Freak On--- ch2

Jak was exhausted, completely and utterly. He walked into the hip hop hog saloon with the expression of a walking corpse. He leaned his forehead on the cool bar top and rubbed his temples. He just wished that the pain would just go away, even for just a little. He wondered how long how long he'd had the constant headache of doom. It had to be for more than a year.

Dax was flirting with Tess; Sig was talking with some one and thankfully, Krew was nowhere to be found.

Tess finally focused her attention on Jak, "So what can I get you?" She watched as she just lifted her his head up and stared at her.

"Something….Alcohol…Caffeine?" He groaned and put his head back down.

"You sure that's a good idea Chili pepper? You look like hell, what's the under ground got you doing?"

"Every thing!" Daxter shouted a little to close to Jak's head.

Jak winced and tried to smack Dax upside the head but missed. Sig found this amusing and chuckled as Daxter continued ranting with out even noticing.

"Those bastards still have us running the crapy missions! They're still trying to get us killed! How many suicide missions have we done Jak! HOW MANY!" he yelled more than a little hysterical.

"So help me Daxter….Shut Up!"

Tess slid him a drink at this moment, so he ignored what ever Daxter may or may not have said. He took a sip, smelled like coffee, tasted like bourbon.

"Tess, you're a genius…what is it?" Jak downed the glass.

"Wow? You've never had Irish coffee before? You really did live under a rock." She laughed as she rubbed daxter's belly, Jak tried hard to ignore her remarks about how wonderful and brave he was.

A few minutes past and Sig was finishing negotiating some kind of deal with the other guy. Jak now felt he could sufficiently function in the living world; he made a special note to remember 'Irish coffee' next time he tried pull off more than thirty-six hours of sleep deprivation.

He turned his attention to Sig at missed the last few words of their conversation. The dark haired man in the long brown coated was standing and looked ready to leave.

"Who's your friend?" he asked.

"The names Clue," he said as he put out his cigarette on the metal snap of his glove. He slid a tip across the counter toward Tess. Tess gave him the once over.

"Your Jak." he said more than he asked. Tess was now giving him the fourth over; she had to admit she like the shade of blue of his eyes better than Jak's.

Dax noticed an abrupt drop in quality of his belly rub. He found the source of this decrease and took action.

Dax jumped up and approached Clue shaking his finger "HEY BUDY! You sho…….You?" Daxter sputtered as he recognized the man. "Your Mr. Magically-turn-off-the-force-field guy!" clue shrugged, Jak wondered what the heck he was blathering about. "Just so were clear, I don't owe you squat, you came to me!" he shouted a little flustered.

"Never said you did." He said calmly.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jak grabbed Dax by the head and held him looking eye to eye with him.

"When I broke into the prison, and the force field and he….with his bare hands….how'd you do that? Ow!" Jak shook him to keep him on topic, "he turned it off, so I could get in." Jak dropped him back to the table.

"So how did you do it anyway," Dax asked with out being fazed.

He shrugged, "magic,"

Before any one could comment on this statement a communicator chirped, Jak reached for his but Clue beat him to it.

Jak was about to question Sig about him while he was busy, when low feminine voice screeched over the static of the transmission, "CLLLLUUUEEEE!" I HATE YOU! HATE! HATE! HATE!" a loud smashing noise punctuated every word. Clue's left eye twitched, "Where the hell are you! You said you'd be back here hours ago!"

"Hey! Hey!" he yelled back, "Power cells are not the easiest things to find,"

"But!"

"Shut up, do you want them or not?" he returned to his more calm demeanor.

"You found one?" she chirped happily.

"Of course but…..," he trailed of

"Good!" she squeaked,

"Aight, now I'm of to..." He trailed off in the same apathetic tone.

"Where?" she cut him off.

He groaned, then smirked, "to see the wizard." He said almost playfully.

Jak and Sig looked at him funny, Tess and Dax were occupied….

Suddenly the woman on the other end burst into song, "because, because, because, beeeecuuuaaaase! Of the wonderful thing's he does." The communicator chirped and he shoved it into his inner pocket.

He turned back to Sig and Jak who were both giving him very odd looks.

He tilted his head at an odd angle, "what?" He asked a little dauntingly.

"Nothing," Sig said shaking his head, "see you around,"

"Aight," he shrugged and stalked out.

"Bi polar Much!' Dax jumped up and yelled as soon as the doors had shut.jak nooded, that guy was an odd duck, but he wasn't important. what was important was heting to the under ground HQ for sleep.

Jak's caffeine had kicked in a while ago, and his perpetual migraine had calmed down enough so that it was no longer painful for Daxter to open his mouth. He figured it was about time to go, But he still had one question.

" Who was that Sig?"

"Clue? Me an big blue go way back," Sig crossed his arms and grinned, Jak cocked an eyebrow as if to say 'and?'. "He's a wastlander, and don't ask me how he got in the city because I haven't the slightest. Hey, Tess get me a shot of that stuff I like," he finished, changing the subject.

"Well Dax let go," Jak knew he'd get nothing more out him so he might as well leave. Dax jumped on his shoulder and they headed for the door.

"See ya chill pepper."

"Bye Daxter!" Tess yelled as she clinked Sig's drink on the counter.

Jak stepped out into the early afternoon sunlight. He spotted a parked zoomer and made his way toward it.

"So if Torn try's to send us on another mission we kill him, right?" Dax asked as Jak turned the key and brought the engine to life.

"Right," Jak's answered with an evil grin as he speed off thru the traffic thinking of the many different ways he could accomplish this. Then he remembered he was running on caffeine and bourbon.

'Killing torn bad, sleeping good,' he thought to himself as he took a particularly hard right and came into view of the Under ground HQ.


	3. shh i'm hiding

Okay I'm sicker than a dog and I feel sick.

Clue: can you get any more redundant?

Shut up. Now no one get confused! Don't panic! I am a'skiping to the end of jak2 the very end cut scene with all the fire works. Yeah that one. I just don't feel like writing stuff that doesn't involve my little plot. Even though I can't wait to write some fighting stuff. This chapter was supposed to get us to spargus but I thought it be best to split it up.

oh thanksto firecat1991 for the review. and i know i'm updating like a mad man but it'll slow daown.

---Get your freak on--- Ch3 (still don't know what's with the title)

Jak watched the fire works explode into colorful sparkles in the night sky. He turned back to Samos and Sig, "I think I'm all done with adventures."

Samos nodded as sagely as one could with a log and a bird on his head, Sig looked like he was about to say something but the distinct click of a Zippo was heard to their left.

"Is that so?" so one mumbled in the dark. Jak peered out past the streetlight but the bright red glow of a cigarette was all he could see.

"That you big blue?" Sig asked the bobbing red light.

"Yeah its me." He said as he materialized out of the shadows.

"What the hell brought you here?" Sig greeted him as he entered the light of the street lamp.

He stood next to Jak and looked at him. Jak pretended not to have any interest in him. It took him a moment to place who the guy was. He could sense something weird about the guy but he couldn't place it, somehow it was very familiar.

Clue looked around cautiously before answering. Sig's expression turned serious in anticipation.

"I'm hiding,"

Sig burst into a fit of laughter as if this was the funniest thing he had ever heard.

Samos stamped his staff, "what's the meaning of this? Who is after you?"

"Jules dragged your scaly ass out of the desert didn't she?" Sig chuckled again.

Clue groaned and looked up at the fireworks.

"I'd take that as a yes," Jak smirked and stared up at the fireworks as well.

"Hey? Did you ever find those power cells for her?" Sig asked almost a little to casually. Jak knew he wanted something.

Clue looked at him and cocked an eyebrow "yeah…"

"Hand it over, you said I could use her. We made a deal," Sig tried to sound persuasive.

Clue didn't answer but reached into his trench to where there must have been a gun holster and pulled out a long barreled blaster.

"Your excited about that pea shooter?" Jak asked skeptically as Cue handed it over.

"You should see what this little puppy can do, Chili pepper."

"You might wanna…" clue made a distinct shaking motion with his hand, scattering glowing ashes from his cigarette.

Sig took the implied advice and shook the gun slightly, it rattled then a small trickle of sand escaped the barrel.

"Yeah, ya gota shake it…S'got sand." Clue finished quietly.

Sig and Jak just looked. Who in their right mind let sand get in their gun?

" Clue you know that's not good for the gun…" Sig said slowly.

"Lots of things aren't good for lots of other things." He told him coldly.

Sig seemed to ignore him and took aim with the small gun out over the port.

Jak looked around and noticed that Samos was had wondered off, Probably at the first sign that the conversation was moving towards guns.

His attention snapped back to Sig and the gun. It was making a strange whirling charging noise. He released the trigger and there was a loud pop click sound.

Nothing happened.

"Told ya." Clue reached his gloved hand out for the gun back. Sig released it and looked disappointed.

"Next time make sure the gun you barrow has ammo." Jak told him sarcastically. Sig gave him a dirty look and opened his mouth to snap something back but stopped as he saw clue taking aim.

The gun emitted the same whirling charging noise again as clue squeezed the trigger. As it charged the deep grooves in the side of the long barrel began to glow a dark blue and it intensified as the charging noise grew louder.

The shot made no noise, except for a loud click from the gun and a loud electric sizzle when the blue energy blast made contact with the water.

Suddenly a large geyser of water exploded from the depths of the port. The explosion with sea floor must have been huge.

"Told you Chili pepper."

Jak wasn't listening, he had one thought, _Blue eco_, that was what he had felt before, but it didn't make any sense. The gun had no ammo before.

"Can I see that," Jak asked a bit hesitantly still confused.

"Shit!" Clue swore loudly ignoring Jak's request, and dashed back into the shadows near some crates. Jak blinked, that was not a reaction he had expected.

Jak didn't have to wonder long though. A petit figure ran towards them. She stopped in the light, hands on her knees panting. Her short Strawberry blonde hair hung down in a tangled mess around her face.

"Have you seen Clue?" she panted, "I saw the explosion, and well.."

Sig pointed towards the crates.

"Clue?" she asked the darkness while She adjusted her baggy yellow hat, Jak wondered how she managed to cram her ears in there. Women would do strange things for fashion.

"Clue! I can hear you breathing! Get your ass out here now."

Silence.

She groaned and turned back to the other two. And there was clue calmly standing between the two. Jak jumped and stared at him, "what the hell!" he shouted at him in surprise.

"You suck at hiding, ya know. Usually when one is hiding they do not explode things." She put her hands on her hips and stared him down, completely ignoring the fact that he had just materialized there. Clue blew smoke out of nose in response. It reminded her of a snorting bull.

"Well I found it," she said irritably, "I hope you're happy,"

"You found it!" he asked amazed, dropping his apathetic air.

"Well not so much find as know where is." She smiled as she saw his eyes dance in excitement, the only hint that remained of his emotion, as his face became a mask again.

"You see I'm not annoying all the time. Now we have to go," she grabbed the sleeve of his duster and started to drag him away, she turned suddenly and smacked Clue upside the head, "Are you smoking! Those things are going to kill you!" it was an obvious question considering a cigarette flew from his mouth with the impact.

He looked down angrily at the broken cigarette that burned slowly on the ground. "I hate you," he said slowly in a chilling way.

She rolled her eyes and continued to drag him away, "lets go," she looked back over her shoulder innocently as she left the ring of light, "Bye Jak!" she yelled loudly.

Jak blinked, "I didn't...she…i didn't tell her.." he muttered confusedly at the mounting strange events.

"Come on chili pepper, you ready to get smashed? Cause I know after that I am."

Jak, nodded, usually he would have declined in fear of hangovers, but at this moment, it seemed very appealing.


	4. strika da fear in da heart

Commence warm and fuzzy feeling! I love you guys and all your reviews!

Clue: mucho thanko's to every one that reviewed, Dragoonknight1, firecat1991, shinoshinigami, and especialy with thanks to krin and winged-racoon-the-dragon!

Well this is an odd chapter, I didn't plan it! I was supposed to get to spargus this chapter! And last chapter o.0 such a slow story. But I did get some action in. hehehe it would so fun to write a story about a street urchin gang in haven, I might do that. Alright remember to review, hit it clue!

Clue: lenipez side show owns nada, except for Jules.

Ahem?

Clue: and me…..

---Get your freak on--- chapter 4

Jak was not a happy camper. This was the eighth time this week he had gone out to the pumping station to clear out metal heads.

"Its been almost a year Dax, and these bastards still haven't given up," Jak grumbled irritably as he slammed another ammo cartridge into his gun.

Dax didn't get a chance to answer, because as they rounded the corner three lounging feline like metal heads came into view. Jak jumped back around the corner before he was spotted, and for once Daxter actually kept his mouth shut and didn't ruin the element of surprise.

As quickly, as he had darted back he darted forward guns blazing. Two shots connected with the sun bathing metal head before it knew what hit it. The other two were on their feet and charging before Jak could get them in his cross hairs. The first one on the left had crossed half the distance to him, he fired. The thing screeched, howled, tumbled to the ground, and rolled forward onto its self from its own speed.

The other one was almost on top of him, he placed his sights on it, and he aimed for the head. The feline creature darted left, then, to the dismay of Jak it faked right and the yellow blaster energy missed its target. Jak brought his gun up.

The beast leapt.

Jak brought the but of gun down with shattering force on the things head. The neon day glow yellow skull gem cracked. Daxter flinched at the sound.

Jak kicked the limp body as it twitched; they always twitched when he smashed the gems.

Jak didn't even bother to take trophies; he just headed for the exit. He remembered a time when more than five metal heads signaled deep shit, but not any more. He was almost to good at this. Then quietly creeping, Sandover snuck into his mind, and for once, he allowed himself to reminisce.

"So Jak, the pink one or just clear one's with those little pink umbrella's" Daxter asked loudly knocking Jak out of his thoughts.

"What?" he asked very confused about what the hell the otsel was talking about.

"Aaiii! Haven't you been listening! For Friday, you know the big fiesta," Dax started do the chicken dance on Jaks shoulder to emphasis. Jak just stared at him blankly. "Oh yeah that's right, you've forgot what those are; you know girls, booze, girls, dancing, fun? Do you remember those things buddy?"

Jak ignored him as the large shield wall doors cranked open for them. They emerged into the bustling chaos that was the streets of haven, Jak made his way toward a bright blue zoomer.

How he loved that thing, it had been his first order of business after Ashlin had taken power. Well maybe the second order of business, the first had been to get over the largest hang over he had ever encountered.

Jak pulled out his keys and jingled them happily; maybe he'd go to the racetrack instead of the stupid party.

Suddenly a small girl popped in front of him blocking him from his zoomer.

The small pink haired girl stared up at him with obstinate green eyes. A few kids appeared behind her. They made a motley crew, a couple were slumers by appearance but the others he couldn't tell.

"Told you, she was right" one of them whispered. Another made the sign against evil.

"What are ya chicken," a red head punched him.

"My mom says he's evil too," a small girl whispered.

"Mine said he worked for Krew. Who dat?" a very young boy asked.

"My Pa says…" one boy started.

"No one cares what your pa says Kipper, your pa's a drunk" the pink one said furiously still staring Jak in the eye. Jak hadn't realized he'd been staring back till then.

"What do you want," he asked very annoyed and close to anger.

"We wanna know if it's true, cause you know how parents is, they don't tell us half of nothing." She said determinedly, some how she reminded him of a very young very pink haired Torn.

"Is he evil?" one asked impatiently.

"Ssshhh that's what she's askin stupid." Another flurry of hushes waved through them.

"I know you love the zoomer Jak, but let it go, those things have it. With their little hands and those eyes. Have you looked at those eyes there to big for their heads Jak!" Dax whispered desperately, "and the little hands that pet and pull the fur, don't let them take you alive, its worse than death," he said mellow dramatically.

Jak wasn't listening; he couldn't believe he was standing there, afraid of a pink haired little girl. He knew what she was going to ask, but he couldn't answer it. He just couldn't.

So he turned around, sure, he'd never live it down, but he'd walk all the way to the naughty otsel. He heard the girl take a deep breath.

"Are…are you evil?" she asked quickly. The group of children held their breaths collectively ready for flight.

Jak stopped dead.

"AAARG!" a flying orange projectile launched at the children. Screams of terror and scrambling feet were heard as the small gang scattered.

Jak turned around to see Daxter alone in front of the zoomer flexing his non existence muscles, "I strika the fear into da heart," he said striking another pose.

" Into a group of innocent children,"

"I know your hurt buddy, but not every one has these talents," Dax babbled, Jak made his way to the zoomer and started it up. " It was the hands wasn't, its always the hands that get to best of us, I'd like to round them all up and offer them to Torn for breakfast," Dax finished jumping onto his shoulder.

"No torn please don't eat me I taste like slum water," Jak said in mock horror, trying not to laugh.

Jak pushed the little girl and her question out of his mind and took the controls of his vehicle. Bright green eyes blinked at him through his windshield.

"What the hell!" Jak shouted in surprise, he wretched the steering column hard to the right, jostling the zoomer. The girl didn't budge.

"So are you?" she asked bravely from her perch on the hood of the zoomer

"Hey little girl don't you have somewhere to be?" Dax asked agitatedly, "Why don't you bug off."

She stared at the magical talking orange rat that had attacked her earlier, "why don't you shut up, fur bag."

"Get off my zoomer," Jak growled.

"Why don't you answer my question!" she shouted back.

Jak hit the accelerator and the zoomer lurched forward a few feet and stopped suddenly throwing the small interrogator off his hood. The girl slid of the hood harmlessly and Jak punched the zoomer up into the next hover zone.

"If I knew the answer where the hell do you think I'd be!" he shouted infuriated at her. He griped the zoomer controls tightly; he felt the eco crackle over them.

With a blast of orange thrusters, the sleek blue zoomer was gone.

She was left blinking her big green eyes, confused. Grown ups never made any sense, it was an easy question.

"You okay Kaya?"

"Did he try to kill you?"

"Did he murder you?"

"Did he answer?"

"Did he tie you up?"

"Oh curse he didn't tie her up, kipper you clout!" an older blonde kid smack him upside the head.

"I'm okay," she told the group.

"Did he answer?" the read head asked

"No…" she said hesitantly.

"Well that must mean he is then," the older blonde said with certainty.

"I duno…" Kaya said stubbornly blinking her big emerald eyes.

"Whatever," the red head piped in, "the bakery just put its pie's out to cool, can you smell it," he took a big breath of polluted air. The kids perked up, started gibbering about pie and the best ways to steal it, and disappeared down the ally. Kaya was last follow.

----

Alright review! What do you think do like my urchins???? And was my charterization good I felt I did a decent job. Eh?


	5. Into the hand basket

Yay! I updated and now I can stop thinking about this stupid story long enough to do my English project! Any way many thanks to every one who reviewed my random pile of storyness.

Clue: that's not a word.

Grrrr…any way special thanks to Krin who gave positive reviews to a chapter that had such atrocious sentence structure. i've since edited that.

Clue: I've killed people for better grammar.

Any way I am now looking into the idea of getting a 'beta reader' so if your interested give me a holler! And some one please correct me if I'm spelling Ashlin's name wrong, and if I accidently switch up the order of vowels in Keira's name, don't hurt me but please tell me. Didn't get were I wanted to be in this chapter either! I give up to the chapterness! (P.S don't try and understand the title it's random, I might try to explain it later)

---Get You Freak On--- Chapter 5

Dax had insisted on being dropped off at the Naughty Otsel because of the errands he had to run for the party. Jak knew he just didn't want to sit through the boring report.

Jak fishtailed into palace's plaza and brought the zoomer in for a landing.

The blue armored guards gave him dirty looks as he climbed the stairs, but nobody stopped him.

As the elevator groaned to life, Jak thought about the street urchin earlier. Then again, he really didn't want to think about them, he just wanted to report to Ashlin and go home.

The doors rolled open and he entered the control room, Ashlin was yelling thru the COM at some one and Samos looked worried. He didn't catch every thing she was saying, but it had to do with the south side of the city.

Torn's voice crackled over the COM, "We got metal head and KG bots comin on both sides, its like they're heading for the palace."

As if on queue the palace shook, a horrible metallic grinding noise came from the walls.

"Ashlin! Ashlin!" torn shouted over the rumbling.

"Run!" Jak yelled as part of the wall was ripped off its foundation. Kiera looked at him, noticing him for the first time as he ran toward the newly formed hole. Jak stopped suddenly, he looked over his toes at the city far below and the streets of swarming metal heads and freedom fighters.

"Its Torn!" Keira yelled relieved as another rumble shook the palace. Torn was coming in fast in a blue freedom fighter hellcat.

"When I say jump, jump!" Jak yelled as the building gave another violent convulsion.

Jak took a deep breath and waited, one-second, two seconds….wait for it, "Jump!" he pushed off his feet as hard as he could and launched himself at the cruiser.

Jak heard Ashlin and Keira thump onto the cruiser after him; a third thump smacked onto the cruiser, Torn swore loudly and pulled Samos into the cruiser the rest of the way by the log.

Parts of the palace came tumbling pass and bounced off the cruiser. A fiery ball of flame smashed into the wall of the palace. Ashlin watched as the whole building shuddered and swayed.

"Get us the hell out of here Torn!" she yelled, rage edged her voice.

Torn gunned the accelerator and shot away from the palace like a bat out of hell.

The palace erupted into a fiery ball of doom and shrapnel, crashing onto the street below. Jak watched as it crashed with an ominous boom. Where once freedom fighters had held the line against a wave of metal heads now stood a tangle of flaming debris.

Torn brought the cruiser back into a fish tail and faced the destruction. The debris fell all the way back to the stadium, covering every thing with twisted metal and concrete.

"Holly.." Jak stared down at the mass destruction.

"Shit…." Keira finished for him as she looked out toward the racing stadium.

Ashlin was frothing at the mouth in anger, "what the hell is happening Torn!" she yelled as she tried in vain to calm herself with deep breath.

"Torn!" Jak yelled before he could answer, he pointed at a wave of kg robots ascending from the street on the other side of wreckage.

"Hang on to your asses" torn yelled as the zoomer took off like a rocket.

Keira was thrown back into her seat with the force. She grit her teeth and clenched her fists as enemy fire sizzled thru the air and Torn took a hard left turn. Her stomach flew into her chest as they dropped hover zones. She watched as a wall sped towards them. She screamed and squeezed her eyes shut.

Torn took the corner at top speed, the cruiser's underbelly screeched against the metal of the building as the force of the turn pushed them sideways up the wall. Jak hung on and twisted himself around to see the Kg bots behind them.

He braced himself against the drivers seat as torn steered them at break neck speed under the over pass and around the supports.

Keira opened her eyes in time to see the large support beams ducking in and out of view as torn dodged thru them; she squeezed her eyes shut again. She was glad he was such a good driver. She opened her eyes again to see torn just miss a beam then crash thru some debris.

'Or maybe he's just crazy' she thought as she screamed again as they went up a hover zone.

It seemed like a thousand red beams of searing kg fire flew thru the air. Jak pulled out his gun; one of those bastards had nearly taken off his head.

Jak opened fire, adding yet another reason for Keira to scream. He picked off a few and they exploded. Torn took another hard turn, they were almost to the new part of the city now. Jak was almost knocked out of his precarious position and he wedged himself farther back between the passenger and driver seat.

He contorted his gun, revealed the Vulcan mod and spun it into place; he opened fire on the mass of red robots with an evil smile.

Keira's world became a place of gunfire, explosion and the constant vibrating of the zoomer engine. This was not a place she really wanted to be. She felt her heart dip into her stomach as Torn dodged around some unknown obstacle. She heard torn screaming into his COM for the force field to be lowered.

Jak kept firing to the last second. He saw the last corner zip away from him, the kg bots swept around the same corner in perfect synchronization and smack into the blue shimmering field.

The kg's exploded as they suddenly slammed into the wall of energy.

Torn came to a slow stop in the middle of the new sector. Freedom fighters ran towards them, torn barked orders and Ashlin demanded Intel as they abandoned the cruiser.

"You okay," some one touched Keira's shoulder, it was Jak.

"Yeah," she said a little to quickly hoping her face didn't betray the relief and fear of the previous exodus.

"Good," he said quickly and nodded as he turned and caught up with torn. Samos taped his staff impatiently as he waited for his daughter's daze to pass.

---lenilovespagebreaks---

Jak waited impatiently out side of the conference room. He was furious, why the hell had Ashlin kicked him out of the meeting. As soon as the councilmen had shown up, she had just given him this look. He groaned and ran his hand thru his hair. At least Daxter was fine. Apparently, the invasion had left the port untouched.

The last thing he'd heard was that evacuation teams had been sent out to round up 'important people' as Ashlin had said it. At least Dax would be there soon.

'Probably start off bitching about how he won't be able to have that stupid party,' he thought with a smile.

Another yelling match erupted behind the doors. Jak winced as he distinctly heard the words eco freak. He suddenly got a knot in his stomach, he did not like where the conversation was going. A deadly hush overcame the other room, it lasted far longer than made Jak comfortable. At least when they were yelling he could tell what was going on.

He gave up eavesdropping and moved to the other side of the hall. Suddenly the double doors slide open and the first of the councilmen stepped out. A surprised and almost horrified look over came his face when he spotted Jak leaning against the wall. Jak watched him walk away quickly, keeping to the opposite side. A few other officials passed by with snobby superior looks. The last one appeared, followed by Ashlin and two guards.

"Freak," the tall councilman sneered at him as he passed. Jak recognized him as a man named Veeger. The councilman would never know how close to death he had come.

Ashlin watched anger wash over Jak's face, she cursed Veeger a thousand times over. Did he really have to make this that more difficult?

Jak watched Ashlin become more distraught, she sighed and stuck out a hand at one of the blue armored guards. The guard promptly handed her a large pair of restraints.

A wave of fear flooded Jak's mind, he knew what had happened. The councilmen had brought him up again, but what ever they had proposed Ashlin had not been able to stop them.

Ashlin mistook the fear for anger and took a quick step forward. She was surprised as he took one back.

"Jak," her voice cracked half way through the word, "just…I'm going to fix this."

Jak could only watched as she clamped the large restraints around his wrists. The fear flew out of him as fast as it had come, and was replaced by a low simmering rage. He glared at her, if any one else had been standing in front of him after putting a pair of handcuffs on him, he'd be shredding them to pieces.

'It's not her fault,' he reminded himself as a guard jostled him to the side. The thought had no affect on his temper what so ever.

Ashlin watched the guards hurry Jak away down the hall; he tried to shrug one of the armored hands off of his arm.

Ashlin leaned against the wall and put her head in both her hand, an exasperated sigh escaped her lips, "My world is going to hell in a hand basket…"

"What do we need a hand basket for?" Ashlin looked up to find Keira standing there wearing her little suspenders and as chipper as always.

A loud yell attracted the stares of both women.

There was Jak, slammed up against a wall; an evil grin plastered his face. The guard pulled him back and slammed him again, Jak swore loudly as the other guard collected himself off the floor.

Ashlin shook her head, "Mar help me," she muttered as the rolling doors hissed open. Keira looked back at the corner that Jak and the guards had disappeared behind then dashed after Ashlin.

The doors hissed shut with an ominous clank.


	6. the kind and compasionate ceiling

I'd like to thank Krin and WRTD for reviewing, I really need to start writing better reviews to people cause mine are no where near as helpful as yours I'm so happy cause this story isn't a complete failure! I'm actually supposed to be co authoring this story or at least a story with the owner of the Jak 3 game I played but… we never got around to it so here I am. I'm sorry Eruka!!!!!!!!!!

Clue: when she finds out I'm holding you down and watching her beat you.

Umm…I love you to? Any way this chapter kind of wrote itself, I was going to get to spargus in this one too…..but I didn't, I wrote an emotional cheap shot at Jak.Aka: it sux >. I'm sorry its cuase i'm evil.

End really long author note thing…

--- Get Your Freak on--- chapter six

Jak heard the electric doors hiss shut and click as they locked. For the second time in his life he found him self on the wrong side of a cell door. Sure, this room was nicer than the last one, a concrete square with a bed and a chair, but that didn't change anything.

Oh, he could just kill them, every last one of those blue bastards. 'Stick a gun barrel down their throats and watch their heads explode.' He thought maliciously as he struggled against his restraints.

"Come on break," he yelled at the blue inanimate objects around his wrists.

He suddenly lifted up his hands and smashed the handcuffs against the metal bed frame.

"NO. GOOD. GOD. DAMN. DIRTY. ROTTEN. FILTHY. SLUT. BITCHES." he punctuated every angry word with a smash to the bed, "SHIT, DAMN, HELL, FF…huh?"

Jak stared at the broken and mashed manacles that hung around his wrist, one hand was on each side of the bedpost. He stared down at his newly freed hands.

"That….worked." he grumbled still extremely pissed, but pleased.

He threw himself on the bed and stared at the ceiling. 'Stupid people….stupid stupid people' he thought dejectedly.

He couldn't believe that all the council could think about while the city was going to hell again, was him.

"Bastards." He told the ceiling.

As he thought of the stupidity of the councilmen, Veeger slipped into his mind. 'Oh that man is dead' he thought.

"I don't deserve this!" he shouted to no one but the ceiling, he had long ago learned in the dark of another cell that ceilings made great and understanding listeners.

He bolted up right, a hundred thoughts flying thru his head. He started to pace, 'Ashelin owes me big time and this is whati get?'

'Who did every single suicide mission? I did! Who destroyed the metal heads? I did! Wait no, that's not true! Those damn things are still out there! God Damn!' he ran his fingers thru his bi colored hair.

" Damn them all!" He yelled at the compassionate listening ceiling.

He continued to pace, thinking 'its not even my fault, I'll give that bastard an eco freak! I'd like to shove him on that thing and give him a taste!' very evil thoughts poured thru his head, most involving Veeger and other assorted council men and very painful things.

This didn't really make him feel any better, it just brought up more unpleasant things from the depths of his psyche and made his hatred of the baron raise its ugly head.

He yelled, a sound of pure frustration and lunged at the wall.

He panted heavily as he stared at his embedded fist. He watched as his pale lavender hand slowly faded back to normal.

He took a moment to compose himself. Then he attempted to remove his hand from the wall. It didn't budge.

He placed his other hand on the wall for leverage and pulled. Pain course thru his knucklesbut his hand remained lodged exactly were his temper had put it.

He leaned back as far as his arm would allow and pulled with all his body weight. He shoved one booted foot against the wall and pulled with all his might but he remained attached to the wall

"This is cute," He told the ceiling sarcastically. He sighed and gave his hand one last stubborn yank.

He fell on his ass.

His knuckles were bleeding profusely; he tore a corner of the white bed sheet and wrapped it around his hand. From his position on the floor, he scooted back into the corner.

"Alright, its just being locked up again that's freaking me out," he said to himself, he wanted out right then more than anything else, he took a few deep breathes, paused and looked deep in thought, "I got to stop talking to myself"

The kind and compassionate ceiling was disappointed.


	7. the unwilling sidekick

Wow still typing like crazy and typing random stuff! It's near that time again, six days, there's a pine tree in my living room, there are socks hung up by my fireplace and my parents are stressing out. Must be Christmas time

Clue(in Santa hat): not gona say it….

I'll sing carols!

Clue: um…no? Don't…please I'll do it! Leni owns nothing and have a safe and wonderful Christmas and possibly Kwanzaa if it hasn't already come and gone. I'd say happy Hanukah but it's already over. Here's to peace on earth and good will towards men and all that good shit!

. Oh well close enough.

---Get Your Freak On---chapter 7---

-- A friend is some one that bails you out of jail, a best friend is the guy sitting next to you going 'Hell yay lets do that again!'- -

"Whoa! Hold up master chief, my stop's here." Daxter smacked the freedom fighters helmet for emphasis. The guard stopped, hesitant to take orders from an orange rat. Dax leaped of his shoulder and ran for the command room.

The guard shrugged his shoulders, very glad to be rid of the annoying weight.

Daxter scampered into the command room; "never worry, Orange lightning is here!" he slid across the room in a dramatic pose.

No one answered.

"HEY!" he shouted at the empty room, "where the heck is every one?" he grumbled.

Suddenly the electric doors behind him rolled open, "DAXTER!"

Daxter suddenly found himself in the grips of a frantic mechanic; Keira scooped him and dashed out of the room.

"Keira! Keira!!!!!!!" Dax screamed as she frantically ran down the hall.

"They're banishing Jak! We gota hurry they're leaving!" she said quickly.

"WHAT! Banished! Where the hell to?" Dax shouted back as he escaped her grip and moved to her shoulder.

"The waste land." She panted as she stopped at a door and pushed the buttons to open it. A large blue shuttle zoomer greeted them in the open hanger.

"Oh no Dax they're leaving" the shuttle revved up and the back hatch began to close.

Keira bolted across the hanger and threw Daxter at the slowly closing hatch, baseball player style.

"SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" Daxter flew through the air like a very orange fuzzy bird, miraculously Keira's aim was true and he plopped inside of the shuttle right before the hatch sealed.

Kiera watched the shuttle rise up and out of the open skylight above. She put her hands on her hips and looked across the hanger. She gave Torn the thumbs up.

Torn stalked over from his position on the other side of the hanger, "and here I thought you where such a sweet innocent girl," he told her with his deep gravelly voice.

"Well he is the side kick," she chirped with a sweetly evil grin.

"Ya well I just hope they make it out of this one," he said solemnly

Keira frowned, 'at least he won't be alone' she thought.

---Anotherpagebreakyay---

Jak glared at the freedom commandos after being thrown onto to a shuttle's seat. He was less angry now, and actually felt badly for Ashelin. He still couldn't believe that he had fallen asleep in the corner, there was a bed right next him. He stared at the metal ceiling, 'old habits die hard.'

The shuttle's hatch was closing now. He still couldn't forgive himself for letting Ashelin see him like that. But the look on her face, he knew she was beating herself up over the whole thing.

A loud plop jolted him out of his thoughts.

"Ay buddy!" one of the commandos stared down at the newly arrived otsel with contempt.

Jak stared at his orange friend, 'how the hell….' Jak shook his head, "I don't think I want to know."

"Copy that," the guard interrupted the heart warming reunion, and stomped over to Daxter.

"No wait! Watch the fur buddy!" he yelled as the guard picked him up none to gently and carried him to the hatch that lead to the front cab.

"Orders say the baroness wants you in the front cab," he said unlocking it with a card key.

"See ya Jak!" he yelled as he passed out of sight "PEEEECKER! What the hell are you doing here!" Dax's voice yelled a moment later.

Jak could hear him through the metal wall that separated him from the cab. He snorted and stared up at the ceiling, "figures," he told it.

---Yetanotherpagebreaki'monaroll---

Jak stared defiantly at Veeger as he was read his painfully obvious sentence. A guard popped open his cuffs.

Veeger held his pointy nose very high as he marched back into the shuttle followed by the two commandos.

Ashelin was hesitant in leaving or approaching him, finally she did approach him, "Jak, just…I'm going to fix this..." she mentally berated herself, how many times had she said that now.

She quickly slipped a yellow disk into his hand and marched off into the shuttle.

Dax and Pecker suddenly came barreling out of the shuttle. Jak groaned. He hadn't been out for more than a minute and the sun was baking him alive.

"Great pecker drag me into your little plan this is great!" Dax screamed at the parrot monkey angrily.

"Well you shouldn't being complaining, you are the side kick after all! Arrrk!" pecker retorted back and took to the sky.

"So which way amigo!" Dax asked recovering from pecker almost instantly.

Jak shrugged, it was really sinking in now, he didn't know about Daxter, but he wasn't expecting a miracle rescue this time. He played with the yellow disk with his fingers, wondering what the hell it was.

'Oh well' he thought morbidly, he picked a direction at random and began to walk, Dax followed and so did his complaints.

Three hours later still trudging along in the desert sand under the searing heat of the sun, Daxter stopped. He removed his little cap and waved it in front of his face panting, his little pink tong lolling out of his mouth, "Jak….remind me to never to do this again…."

---Really horrible chapter! Hate it hate hate it! BUT I MADE IT TO SPARGUS! Well not quite but next chapie, oh I'm to lazy to write all the cut scenes so the next chapter is starting out side the arena so no one freak out I will recap. Now click that little button down there and review


	8. spargus

I'm in Spargus –dances- thanks to every one who reviewed: The Dude (can I call you the dude?) firecat1991, Krin, WRTD, Scarab and Relly…that's every one right? I had so mush fun writing this chapter!!!!!! Yet again, the chapie wrote itself and more random ppl who have nothing to do with the story appear. Oh just so nobody gets confused Tylo is the name of a gang I made up in the spur of the moment….not that important but its there so tough. Did I spell Kleiver right? So any way on with the chapter, it's long

Clue: word to the wise: do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup! –Dances around the room with a scotch bottle cause he's completely smashed-

:(Stupid chain smoking alcoholic! Its not even x-mass eve yet…sigh… go read!

---Get Your Freak On---Ch 8---

Jak looked the leaper over while grinning like a maniac; he was going to like this place.

Right at this moment, he really didn't care if he was banished from haven or if he owed his life to the people of Spargus, all he cared about was one fact. Dangerous is useful. He had never been more nervous and more relieved than during those words.

'At least Damos has more sense than those council bastards.' He though bitterly.

"Looks kinda like a flut flut," Dax said tilting his head at the odd dinosaur like lizard. Jak shrugged not paying attention, he took the dark green leaper by the reins and turned toward the city.

The city sprawled out before him, one building heaped on top of another, like some insane giant's building blocks had spilled across the ground. The air was hot and muggy but most importantly fresh. The city was unorganized and buildings were placed in a more natural way than Haven's.

This was his new start, a new city, a new employer, a new gun, and a new haircut.

Sure, Kleiver was a smaller tougher version of krew in a diaper, but at least it was a job, and he even got a new morph gun.

He would have emboweled the stupid guard who took his old one but unfortunately, his cuffs had prevented that course of action.

Jak mounted the leaper; he wondered how it would take the stairs. He urged it forward with his heels, and to his complete delight, it tore down the steps and into the city.

The first thing he noticed was the people, harden gun toting people walked the streets here. The people here where proud.

He steered the leaper into the market, its heavy but agile feet pounding a steady pace.

"There's one of those rat things!" Daxter shouted, he really had no right to call anything a rat thing considering his fury disposition.

Jak focused in on the cute red hoping rodent and charged his leaper at it, he wasn't quite sure what he'd do when he caught up to it, maybe he'd stomp it to death. He grinned as the thing took of and he tore after it swerving around people and elevated porches.

Jak dug his heels into the leaper's side, and true to its name, it leaped. The creature squealed with pleasure as it flapped its little wings in vain. Jak landed heavily behind the rat, the leaper never paused after its landing and caught up to the rat, then suddenly to his surprise, his mount lounged.

The kanga rat squealed as the leaper scooped it up. The leaper slide to a stop and Jak watched as it threw its head back and let the kanga rat slither down its throat, the tail squirmed and thrashed till the end.

"Jak…It ate it! alive!" Daxter yelled slightly disturbed, mostly because the kanga rat had vaguely resembled himself. Jak on the other hand, laughed, finding the leapers diner manners very amusing.

Jak took his time rounding up the rest of the rats, thoroughly enjoying riding the leaper. He watched the leaper slurp down the last rat and phoned Kleiver. The conversation was uninteresting and short.

Now left to his own devices, Jak wondered the city, exploring to his hearts content.

Suddenly a leaper dashed in front of him, cutting him off. His stead shied away and squealed unhappily. Another leaper sailed over his head and pounded after the first. Two rounds of Vulcan furry shots were fired from the pursuing leaper's rider.

A scream rang out and the first leaper toppled over with a violent wail. A scruffy purple haired kid rolled away from the dying animal. He kneeled and fire a loud yellow shot back at his attacker.

Jak watched most of the people present quickly clear out; there was no mass hysteria, just a mild fear of being shot. Jak stayed were he was and watched the drama play out.

A tall man with a scraggly stubble and oily brown slicked back hair jumped off the leaper, gun blazing. The kid rolled behind the leaper's corpse for cover, as the man's semi automatic gun let lose another burst of fire.

The older man advanced quickly holding his fire, as he neared the leaper he paused. Suddenly the lavender haired shooter stood up and fired. Jak winced, his aim was atrocious.

The shots bounced off everything but the roguish man before him. The man grinned and aimed at the boy and fired a single shot.

The yellow blasts ceased and the boy dropped to the ground with a thud. The man chuckled evilly and approached the dead child.

A surge of unwanted guilt built up in Jak, 'He was just a kid!' he thought angrily. And worst of all no one seemed to care. He should of done something, he told himself, but wasn't his fight and he only had a scatter gun he reminded himself.

"Tough break…" Dax said in a sympathetic way.

The man kicked the corpse sadistically, and chuckled again. Jak turned the leaper to leave.

His attention was drawn back to the scene of the crime by the familiar sound of a gun being cocked, the man abruptly stopped laughing. The purpled haired corpse's arm was raised and pointing a blaster at the man. The man stared in surprise.

The gun fired and blew a hole through his head, blood splattered across the street in small crimson droplets. The man's imploded head arched back and the body collapsed onto its back with a thump.

The kid hauled himself up; blood flecked his face and hair. He wiped a forehand across his eyes making a very smudgy red mask for himself. He put his gun back on its holster and sighed.

"Stupid, Tylo lackey," he said adjusting the overly large round goggles, which were shattered and now had a Vulcan bullet lodged in the frame. He fingered them thoughtfully.

A group of yelling teenagers ran around the corner guns drawn, the mob surrounded the young shooter yelling and cheering. Someone shot three shots towards the sky.

"Well Neko, your half a man now, just got to find yourself a lady now." A deep voice bellowed over the general cheering of the group.

Jak grinned as he turned his leaper around, the last thing he heard from the mob was loud laughter and shouts.

"He was tricky bastard eh Jak? Almost as crazy as you" Daxtersaid after a couple blocks. Jak nodded. "At least in Haven this crap happened at the stroke of midnight in a back ally!" Dax shouted exasperatedly, sounding a bit like a neighbor hood watch obsessed housewife. "Gun totting psychos!" he said insultingly. Jak gave no response but grinned evilly.

"OH NO!" Dax cried on loudly, "You like it here don't ya? You gun crazed psycho freak!"

Daxter was one of the only people alive who get away with calling him something like that; Jak Just grinned more evilly at the truth of the statement and scanned the harbor area they had just entered.

"Hey what's that?" Jak asked pointing at a menacingly pointed metallic thing on the side of the road, surrounded by several people.

"Huh?" Daxter spun his head quickly to look and completely forgot about his rant of how crazy his friend was.

Jak rode up to the strangely dressed white-faced people. Jak dismounted and swaggered over. Daxter paid attention to the conversation long enough to figure out that the person before them with the coloring book for a face was a precursor monk. Daxter's attention began to drift as he tried to figure out if the monk before him was a man or a woman, sure it sounded like a chick but with all that spandex and rubber on, he couldn't be sure.

The monk was lecturing Jak about being evil and dark powers and such and generally being really pissy, or at least that's what Dax thought.

Dax stared up at the sky and fanned himself, "Damn its hot," he murmured.

Jak made a violent hand gesture to emphasize the end of his argument with the monk and the dark precursor artifact activated and an interface screen popped down.

"OOH!" Daxter said excitedly as Jak held his hand almost embarrassedly, "S'got the touch!"

"Be right back," he told the monk as he approached the artifact, the monk immediately warned him not to touch it. Jak ignored her and started to trace the pattern that flashed across the screen.

Daxter watched till the flashing blinking lights where to much for his eyes, Jak had always been good at that kind of thing. He turned his attention to the bright faced coloring book colored monk, He watched as Seem paced nervously and directed a few fellow monks agitatedly.

Jak took a sudden step back, Seem raced over to the screen. Dax watched it blink and flash symbols. Suddenly it shot up into the air and beeped loudly.

"JAK IT'S GONA BLOW!!" Dax yelled.

The probe exploded with a boom and shrapnel showered back down to earth.

Jak brushed a few small pieces of metal off his tunic, helooked a little unbelieving of what seem was telling him, something about coordinates or something. Dax was trying to pay attention. Really, he was but the women in Spargus were just so much hotter than Haven chicks.

Jak stomped off angrily toward his leaper, "preach to me about evil…" he muttered.

As Jak mounted the leaper and ruined Dax's perfect view down a waste lander's shirt, he snapped back to reality.

"So where we going now?" he asked in a lazy way as he reclined on Jak shoulder, putting his paws up on his head.

Jak brushed his feet off his ears, "I don't have the slightest Dax." He said annoyed.

His communicator chirped suddenly, he reached into his pocket and pulled it out, "What?" he asked it edgily.

"Kleiver here, if you can get your ass her before this storm comes I might have a job for ya…" the COM went dead.

"Damn! He's about as vague as Krew!" Dax said sarcastically.

He gave his stead's rein a pull and started off at a slow trot as he returned the COM to his pocket. The leaper cheeped as it bumped into something and stopped.

"Hey! Watch where the hell your going! Forget about your stupid COM and watch were your going!" a low feminine voice yelled irately.

Jak looked around in confusion looking for the owner of the voice.

"You listening!" a charging whirling noise started, "Yo, Down here,"

Jak looked down and to the left, a brown pair of spite fire filled eyes stared up at him, he backed his leaper up a step or two.

"You just gona stare at me? Yeah I'm short, you wanna go?" she held a steely gray hammer in front of her hazardously. Jak thought it was a strange choice of weaponry. It had a small hammerhead and a very long shaft.

She twisted the handle angrily, the whirring noise increased, and the hammerhead increased three times in size with a fluid motion.

"Whoa sweet cheeks…. no harm meant, now put your pretty little toy away. Dumbo here just ain't figured out how to drive yet." Daxter said with a winning smile.

Jak glared.

"Well just watch where the hell you're going. And don't call me sweet cheeks!" She said as she wrenched the hammer's handle again and it shrank to its original size. She pushed a strand of strawberry blonde hair out of her face and under her yellow hat. She smiled brightly at Jak, "have a good one," she chirped as she shoulder her hammer and walked away.

"That...was weird." Dax said once she had disappeared into the crowd, "are you sure you like it here, cause these people are psycho…" Jak kicked the leaper into a run, as Dax continued to rant. "…You got rubber monks, hot chicks with mental disorders, and rampaging homicidal preschoolers!"

"Was just me or did she look familiar," Jak asked deep in thought as he steered the leaper toward the place Kleiver had told him his car port was.

"No," Dax said not really caring.

"I've seen her before…." he muttered as he jumped over a porch and a small child eating a blue, orange like fruit.

He was starting to get a headache now, and just wanted to go see Kleiver and see if there was any place to stay the night at, a place with a shower would be nice. He couldn't believe how hot it was, it wasn't even noon.

Jak slide the leaper to a stop in front of a large door. This was just about where Kleiver had told him he would find his garage earlier. He jumped off the leaper and tethered it to a large pole.

A sign hung on it, it read: Kleiver's Garage. Steal leapers at own risk.

"Guess this is the right place," Dax said optimistically ignoring the vague threat on the sign.

Jak wondered if Kleiver expected the leaper back as he approached the large door. Just as in Haven, the door took a moment to hiss open and he entered.

He walked in just in time to see a small dune buggy with blue siding and a large turret on top fish tail out of the huge mechanical door and out into the desert. The gate slammed shut leaving only a veil of dust hanging in the air.

Daxter coughed melodramatically.

"YOU!" Kleiver bellowed, his yellow slug of a mustache trembling with anger, "I need a driver!"

"Wait, wait, wait big guy what the hell are you talking about?" Dax asked laying on a smooth and in control sounding voice.

"That Bastard!" He pointed a brawny finger at the shut gate, "Ain't been holding up to his end of the bargain and now he's out there scoring all the artifacts!"

"Artifacts," Jak asked interested in the opportunity the situation might hold.

"There's a storm coming, and the winds turn up precursor artifacts… I need a driver. If you can bring back even some of them you got a job." Kleiver said angrily, distress edging on his voice.

Jak turned to the dune buggies, but stopped.

"Take that one!" Kleiver pointed at a vehicle with a yellow chain gun on top, "I don't expect much, that freak out there is good, he killed my last driver."

Jak grinned evilly and dashed over to the vehicle and slide into it through the roll cage. If there was one thing he could do, it was drive.

"Hey buddy aren't you just a little worried? Hey?Jak?" Dax asked nervously as the engine roared to life.

Jak eyed the controls and the trigger button on the dash completely ignoring his furry friend in the other seat. He flicked a switch experimentally and a small screen lit up on the dash, showing a map of the desert. His eyes fell on a large switched marked turbo, his eyes danced with evil glee.

"I think I'm going to like it here…" Jak shouted over the engine as he slammed his foot on the accelerator and tore out of the garage through the swiftly opening mechanical gates and into the desert storm.


	9. i'm really starting to hate this guy

Well it's the day after x-mass…Boxing Day right? Well my parents have confiscated prince of Persia and are now attempting to play it….-snicker- but in the time it took to write this I think they've gotten better..

Clue: -feet up on monitor playing Zelda on GBA- Die you damn pickachu! I hate you!

-blink blink- 0.O I thought you were playing Zelda?

Clue: that's just what I want you to think!

-Pushes feet of computer- your hopeless! Enjoy the chapter but don't hurt me….the ending is just better this way

--hearts and prayers going out to the tsunami victims and they're families in south asai. the death tolls are up to 13000....Godess save and bless us all, we're going to need it.--

---Get Your Freak on--- ch. 9

Jak's dune buggy roared over the sand, he stared out at the horizon; desert stretched for miles in every direction as far as he could see. The first vehicles dust trail burned towards the horizon.

Seeing no better way to go in the unknown landscape, he followed his rival.

'Oh hell yes' Jak thought as he careened over a dune with a triumphant yell. The buggy landed heavily jolting him forward, Dax rolled onto the floor. He nailed the accelerator and the vehicle leaped forward after the opposition.

"Haven't these waste lander people ever heard of shocks!" Dax shouted over the engine as he climbed back on to the seat.

The wind suddenly picked up wiping the sand into his face and eyes. He pulled down his goggles, quickly fixing his small dilemma.

Something glinted blindingly on the flat expanse of sand as the sun hit what ever it was just right, he watched the other vehicle swerve towards it, what ever it was it obviously didn't belong in the sand.

The other vehicle came to an abrupt and complete stop; three brown and heavily armored buggies came barreling over a ridge. The large double barrel turret on top of the machine burst to life shooting a multitude of yellow gunfire. The advancing machines swerved but one couldn't escape in time and burst into a ball of flame; crashing into its companion and exploding on impact. A few figures ran from the vehicles.

Jak thundered past the attacking dune buggy and surged toward the glinty shiny object. The gun turret swung suddenly toward him, as if the shooter had been surprised by his appearance.

"Take the wheel Dax!" Jak yelled as he grabbed the sides of the roll cage and leaned his top half out over the sand.

Dax leaped on to the steering wheel and held it steady; suddenly the first shots from the other dune buggy's fire reached them. "JAAAAAAAK!" Daxter screamed as he jumped in fear, causing the wheel to spin, subsequently dodging the next shot.

"Hold it steady!" Jak yelled angrily as he reached out both hands toward a piece of ugly twisted metal sticking out of the ground. The artifact smacked into his hands with an unexpected force, he wrenched it towards his chest.

He hauled himself back into the pilot's seat, threw Dax and the artifact into the other seat and took the wheel.

The sand explode all around them as yellow projectiles ricochet past them missing by inches.

"Buckle up for safety" Jak yelled, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He wiped the machine around; fish tailed and faced his foe.

"Oh God." Dax said softly griping the seat, "He's gona do something CRAAAAAAAAAZY!" He screamed as the car took of again with a whip lash worthy force. Jak grinned evilly as he rushed the shooting turret.

He swerved left then right in rhythm as the double barrels took turns firing, the shooter then swiveled the barrels back and forth at random hoping that with a wider spread of the shots that one of them would hit. Jak slammed his fist down on what he believed to be a trigger button; he felt the wheel morph in his hands; into a 'u' shape, much like the wheel of a zoomer or an airplane. Two buttons reveled themselves on both sides of the 'u'. He brought his thumbs down on the twin buttons and brought forth a torrent of fire from the chain gun mounted above him.

Jak swerved around another shot and lined back up, he could barely hear the pining of the bullets on the other buggies siding over his own fire.

Suddenly the shots stopped coming, he could still hear them but they weren't coming, he shot a glance up at the turret; they were to close! The gun couldn't aim down low enough to reach them.

"HELL YES!" He cried as he raced toward his enemy; guns blasting.

"JAAAAAAK!!!! BRAAAAAKE!" Daxter yelled as he clenched his seat, his small paws had a death grip. Jak neared the other vehicle with a horrifying speed; Jak hit the brake only to late to prevent his kamikaze.

Suddenly the third and forgotten marauder vehicle rammed into the side of the blue machine, the armored car spun across the desert sand sending up clouds of smoke. The blue machine flew through the air straight over Jak's.

"….OOOOOTHHHHEEEEEEER FUUUU….." an infuriated scream whizzed by as the dune buggy flew.

Jak skid across the sand and spun his machinery around coming to a stop where only moments ago the other automobile had been. The blue machine bounced, rolled, and landed on its back.

Daxter opened his eyes "…We're alive?" asked amazed. The screen on the dashed flashed desperately; Daxter eyed it curiously while Jak stared his fallen prey down. Dax poked the screen experimentally; a large green dot appeared on the map, he read the swiftly flashing text.

"Jak…hey!" Daxter whacked his shoulder with a paw.

"What!"

"Metal detector…" Dax pointed at the screen, "Artifact. That way. Go." He said slowly as if talking to a very stupid child.

Jak grinned, ignoring his friend implied insult and hit the accelerator again and raced toward the next blip on the map.

The winds increased and the sand whipped around in dirt devils and the visibility became a real problem. Jak could just make out a pointed cone sticking out of the ground; again, he repeated the process of hanging out of the moving vehicle and grabbing the artifact at insanely high speeds.

He had lost sight of the blue vehicle and the ugly brown spiked and armored one. He drove calmly near a large ravine; heading towards a bridge.

Somehow, it was still insanely hot, even with the storm, the air was completely dry and the sky was bare of clouds. The leather bindings of his goggles rubbed uncomfortable across his face, he rubbed them unconsciously.

"JAAAAAAAAK!"

Jak looked up in time to see the blue vehicle tearing over a dune straight at him. Jak fish tailed around and gunned it. The other dune buggy was at least twice his size and kamikazzing his way.

He hit a large bump and the machine came to a complete and sudden stop. He hit the accelerator; he could hear the back wheels spinning.

"We're on a rock!" Dax yelled from the back end of the buggy.

Jak looked down into the ravine, which was far to close for comfort. He swiveled his head and watched the oncoming vehicle come barreling towards him.

"Oh shit." Jak said very softly as he braced for impact.

Metal grinded against metal as the two machines collided, Jak felt himself flip upside down; he griped the roll cage bars with a death grip. He couldn't tell up from down if his life depended on it. He could hear Daxter screaming. He felt like he fell for an eternity.

A sudden impact racked his body. His whole body flew forward, his head cracked against the dash before he was thrown back violently into his seat.

He grabbed his head and half groaned half screamed. He felt water trickling into the cab.

Daxter clambered back onto the seat and groaned, "I have no idea why I hang around with you," he turned to his friend who was gritting his teeth and holding his forehead, blood trickled over one lens of his goggles.

"You gona make it buddy?" he asked sincerely. Jak shook his head in a very dog like way and nodded.

He watched the pretty colored splotches dance across his vision, "Dax…you ever get that feeling you just lost half your brain cells?" he asked a little groggily.

"Yeah all the time after receiving SEVERE HEAD TRAMA FROM YOUR DRIVING!" Dax yelled.

Jak chuckled and watched the last splotch twinkle out of existence. He slowly rolled the car out of the river and climbed up a steep embankment.

Sand whipped though the air in thick clouds like some kind of demon possessed it.

He peered down at his map screen through his red tinted lenses. He spotted a blip near Kleiver's entrance, perfect. He'd nab that and book it back.

Jak took off toward his destination with the reckless speeds, head trauma or no; it was what he did best.

Jak did the best he could to drive a straight line but the wind was ferocious and blew him this way and that, he approached where the blip indicated. Up ahead he spotted the blue and gray steel vehicle racing toward his artifact.

"I'm really starting to hat this guy," Jak growled trough gritted teeth. He surged through the wiping sand and gained some distance.

It was no use and he watched though the sand as a figure leaned out the driver's side and scooped up the small twisted piece of metal.

Jak looked around at his dash frantically, there had to be something he could do; he was completely pissed.

The button marked 'turbo' caught his eye. He slammed his fist down on it and heard the loud drone of the engines charging up for the needed burst of speed.

Jak was forced into the back of his seat as the engine propelled them like a rocket toward the rear end of the other machine.

Jak's front end smashed into the others back end, his burst of speed suddenly ended, black smoke spluttered out of the engine but he kept moving. He watched as red flare ignite out of the back of the engine in front of him as it roared ahead.

"Damn!" Jak slammed his fist on the dash as he charged the large mechanical doors. He fishtailed into the garage avoiding the other guy and braked.

Kleiver dashed toward him, "you get any?" he asked gruffly, his yellow slug mustache bouncing unhappily.

"Two," he muttered angrily, he was completely bull shited. He never lost. Though he didn't really lose…this fact was to completely lost to him. His head hurt and he was pissed.

Jak jumped out of the dune buggy straight up through the roll cage. Kleiver was busy fitting his large girth far enough into the vehicle to retrieve the artifacts.

Jak; wet from the knees down, marched off toward the blue dune buggy parked opposite of him. As he reached the vehicle he couldn't see any one in or near it, he clenched his fist.

The distinct sound of a Zippo was heard above him up on the roll cage.


	10. was thata carrot?

Holy crap! Chapter ten! Ten chapters and twenty reviews!

Clue:(wearing party hat) kudos WRTD your lucky numba twenty…..can I take the hat off?

No…anyway I know I'm updating way to fast but I'm bored and its vacation time so TADA here's yet another chapter! I was in a very strange mood when I wrote this so it's slightly amusing.

Clue: (takes off hat any way, cigarette magically appears in his mouth) don't you have a project to do?

Um…no…. maybe…. NO SMOKING! (Points at big sign)… Thanks for the reviews dudes

- End authors rant.

--Get Your Freak On—ch 10--

Jak pulled off his goggles and bandana and stared up at the ebony haired bastard crouching on top of the blue dune buggy. One blue eye stared down at him from behind a smashed goggle lens; a trickle of blood ran down the side of his face.

" I should have known," he took a drag off his cigarette thoughtfully "you beat the shit out of my baby."

Jak clenched his fits, the guy wasn't even angry with him, he watched as the dark haired man with white khakis slide down the side of the vehicle.

"Jak? We've met him before…" the otsel thought for a moment "that's Clue right, his names Clue," Dax whispered.

Jak did not care what his name was he just wanted to bash his head in.

Clue stood back from his vehicle, cocked his head and accessed the damage. Jak noticed that he had a gun holster like harness attached to his shoulder. He wore a strange steely gray metal breastplate over a brown sleeve less shirt. Black gloves covered his hands and arms and disappeared under his shirt.

"Kleeeeiver," he shouted randomly pointing a black-gloved finger at his baby.

" What do want you bloody bastard! I'm telling you right now, I want you out!"

"Your paying for this!" he told the waste lander sternly, he sounded only slightly annoyed as if the situation was almost comical. Kleiver gaped at him and stumbled over his words due to his outrage, Clue did him a favor and interrupted, "your driver broke it, you're fixing it." He finished in an icy monotone.

Kleiver stared at him; murder in his eyes, "I want you out of this garage now, I never want to see you again, freak!"

Clue's apathetic mask dropped immediately. Anger simmered in his visible eye.

Jak suddenly wondered why Kleiver had called him a freak. His anger was suddenly replaced by curiosity and annoyance.

Clue took three slow steps forward and stared Kleiver down, "just cause I'm not doing your dirty work for you any more doesn't mean I'm moving my vehicle," absolutely no emotion showed through into his voice.

"This is my garage little man and what I say goes." Kleiver told him in his arrogant tone. Clue snorted smoke out his nose in contempt. "There's more than one garage in this town, the leaper children perhaps?" he said with a shady grin.

"I've told you before I don't take favors from immature gang lackeys. I've rented here since before you owned it, I've been your solid income every month….and if you want to wake up tomorrow…" he cracked the joints in his fingers without making a fist, "I think you'll see things my way."

Kleiver glared, "get out of my sight, you'll get your money! But you're fixing it yourself!"

Clue shrugged as if it never really mattered any way. He pulled his goggles down around his neck and wiped the blood from his face. He then sauntered out through the mechanical doors.

Kleiver grumbled angrily as Jak and Daxter approached him.

"Hey beautiful! Did we get a job or what?" Dax yelled at the grumbling goliath.

"Oh you. Yes yes of course ya do. But watch yourself, if ya know what's good for ya." He told Jak in a shady way.

"Yeah I'll do that," Jak said with sarcasm, Kleiver reminded him of Krew; he thought pleasantly of what had happened to Krew in the end.

He walked out of the large garage and back into the city; and there was clue, leaning against the hitching post with its warning sign. Jak ignored him and untied the reins for his leaper.

"So where you staying tonight kid?" Clue asked letting his cigarette hang from his lip.

Jak shrugged and walked his leaper away, just because he wasn't that angry at the guy any more didn't mean they were buddies.

"Cause I'm sure my room mate wouldn't mind another mouth to force feed…." He told the back of Jak's head as he flicked his cigarette into the water trough.

"No we're ggomnf…." A pair of orange paws suddenly stifled the young elf's mouth.

"Do ya got showers?" Daxter shouted looking back over Jak's shoulder.

Clue nodded as he walked toward them, he held up two fingers.

"We're in! Lead the way 'o' master of the mysterious," Daxter cried excitedly.

"Daxteeer." Jak growled lowly.

"You got a better idea blondie? Cause I'd love to hear it!" Dax argued.

"Fine." Jak almost shouted and followed the ebony haired vagabond.

They walked silently through the crowds, back toward the market near the port. They stopped at an average looking desert building with its elevated stoop and two leapers hitched in front.

Jak tied his leaper up with the other two more brightly colored ones. He then hurried up the steep steps; clue turned the doorknob to the large red front door and kicked it open. "Welcome to my lair," he said with false enthusiasm.

Jak stepped through into the dim interior only to be greeted by something being shoved into his mouth. He stared down at the green leafy end of a carrot hanging out of his mouth.

Clue strode through the door and deftly retrieved the vegetable, "Jules….what did I tell you about force feeding company." He whapped her with the carrot on her baggy yellow hat. The short young woman glared.

Jak blinked a few times in confusion.

"Was a that a carrot Jak?" Daxter asked almost as confused.

"I was aiming for you, I swear," the red head said trying to look cute. Clue chucked the carrot across the kitchen area and into the garbage. He rolled his eyes.

"You remember Jak right?" Clue asked her with a flick of his thumb toward the confused elf who had just been violated with a carrot.

"Was that… a carrot?" Jak asked echoing Daxter's earlier question.

"Um yeah I think so, it might have been a turnip, I forget." She answered absent-mindedly, "Yeah I remember him" she pointed a Jak and spoke to Clue. "He's the bastard that nearly ran me over today!"

"Jak it's the crazy girl from earlier, run! Run now. Run far. Run fast." Dax said sounding oddly paranoid.

"Hey I already said I was sorry." Jak said recovering from his nearly traumatic experience. He crossed his arms annoyed.

"Okay then…" Clue trailed off, "now that we've all started off on the right foot, I'm gona go make my head wound stop bleeding." He said in a completely different tone.

"Bi polar…" Dax whispered softly.

"Hey what the hell happened to your head!" Jules asked concerned, she grabbed him by a long slender ear.

"Ow," he said coldly as she forced his head down to her level.

"Did you pick a fight with marauders again," she touched the wound gingerly.

"Ow…again. And no, him" Clue pointed at Jak, "can I have my head back now?"

She released his head and turned to Jak, "good now I don't have to beat him!" she chirped happily as she turned back to the stove, "do you want some soup?"

Jak just kinda stared at her.

Clue made his way toward a door way near the end of the kitchen, "shower's that way," he said pointing at a closed door before he exited.

Jak took the opportunity to escape from Jules and peered after him in the other room. Clue stood in the middle of a small sitting room, his foot holding up a trap door. Jak looked at him curiously.

Clue shrugged at Jak's unvoiced question and jumped down with a thump, the door slammed behind him.

"OKAY!" Daxter shouted, "WHERE DID HE JUST GO!"

"His bat cave," Jules replied from the kitchen.

"The what?" Jak asked turning back to the kitchen.

"Never mind" she said throwing chopped carrots into a pot.

Jak shrugged and eyed the door to where the showers had been indicated to be hidden. He pulled Dax off his shoulder and plopped him on the near by cluttered kitchen table.

"Keep her company Dax," Jak said with his trademark evil grin, "your good with women" he made his way to the bathroom and slammed the door behind him.

"Jak! JAAAAK! Don't leave me she's psycho!" the otsel yelled in distress. Jules chose this moment to turn around holding a large butchers knife, "Oh boy!" Dax screamed like a little girl.

Jules grabbed a turnip and began to chop it up with her over sized knife, "if your not the cutest little talking fuzz ball I've ever seen…"

Dax sighed melodramatically, "You do realize you're crazy, sweet cheeks." He asked the short and mildly hyperactive woman.

"I told you don't call me that!" she yelled still holding her knife, Dax gulped. "And Clue reminds me all the time, it's a fine line you know…" she answered as if she had never been insulted, she continued chopping more things that she could have easily used a smaller knife for.

"No can't say I know what you're talking about," he said reclining out on the table.

"Between genius and insanity!" she chirped with a grin.

"Great…" he mumbled, "another hot chick with mental issues…."

She put the pot on to boil, "what you say?"

"Nothing, sweet cheeks, nothing…"

"I told you not to call me that! Stupid furry bastard."

"I… resent that."


	11. don't poison the soup

Alright I'm sitting here with Eruka…yes my arch nemesis from across the street..

Eruka:-plays kingdom hearts chain of memories- ……

Clue: wow…so cool….I still like Zelda better

You mean pokemon…

Clue: no…um..maybe

Any way Eruka is a gona post a story about those gangs I've mentioned briefly in the last couple of chapters so if ya want you can check that out its gona be called Leaper Children.

Eruka: -nods- now playing pokemon

Clue: sweet nail it with water gun!!!!

Eruka: that's a bulbasuar you idiot!

o.0 …….okay.. The original idea was to switch every chapter between a gang leader in Spargus and one in haven, one based on each of us, but the one in haven flopped so It'll be just Spargus alright on with the show!

-Steals Eruka's right shoe…. tries to light it on fire….gets distracted by fire-

Eruka: hey that's my shoe! –grabs shoes- Stupid idiot give back my SP! –chases after clue-

Clue: ahahaha! Water gun!

Eruka: -beats leni with shoes like a ninja- no steal shoes leni, write!

Never -tries to burn eruka's story with lighter!-

Eruka: no leni fire bad for you

Stares at fire

Eruka: yes now look at it real close and burn your eyes…I mean no that would be such horribly violent thing! Write!

--Get Your Freak On-- ch 11--

Clue emerged from the other room to find daxter gorging him self with a bowl of soup.

"Where're you going," Daxter asked as he managed to put the over sized spoon in the bowl.

Clue stared at the spoon, he was pretty sure it was the biggest one they owned, he shot a glance at Jules who smiled innocently.

"The same place he always goes when he's pissed at Kleiver," she told Daxter, eyeing the black and green banana tied across his forehead, "he's off to see the Leaper Children. So they can steal Kleivers Leapers so he can't sell them to the precurser skunks"

"You mean Monks?" Daxter asked.

"Same thing…." She said

Clue nodded and just left, he seemed to just leave a lot with out saying any thing quite often.

Suddenly his head popped back into the room, "you didn't poison the soup again did you Jules" he asked with a grin.

Jules looked at him very strangely, "Noo….but it's a good idea…"

Clue frowned, "you were supposed to play along," he said with a fake pout.

"Well I did put some of that spice in it with the skull on the bottle…."

"YOU WHAT!!!!" Dax yelled.

The ebony haired bi polar guy suddenly disappeared to the sounds of Jules and Daxter playing dodge ball with eating utensils.

A very wet haired and clean Jak entered the room at his moment, dodged a fork flying through the air, and wondered exactly what the hell was going on.

-Erukaisascarypersonandthisisapagebreak-

Clue wandered in to a ramshackle bar on the other side of the city. Two leapers were hitched out side.

He walked over to the bar counter and told the bartender to get him a scotch, the bartender grabbed a bottle off the shelf behind him and filled a very small shot glass.

Clue glared at its tinyness.

Fortunately, a certain black haired women popped up next to him and ordered something.

Clue stared at the unattended bottle with shifty eyes. He slowly dragged it off the counter and held it behind his back.

He turned to the woman next to him, "So…what brings you here?" he asked casually.

"Um actually I don't remember…" she said thoughtfully, Clue groaned with a frown, "Oh I remember you called me!"

"yeah…." He said slowly, staring at the gang leader.

"So down to business, what do you got from kleiver?" she asked very mater of factly.

"There's a leaper round up in three days…."

She interrupted him, "aaaahh, joy!" she nearly shouted.

"The precursor monks are making the pick up at three o' clock…"

She interrupted again, "Barush Barush," she muttered happily.

Clue took a moment as he did every time he had a meeting with the Eruka, mighty leader of the leaper children, to marvel at the success of the gang. She truly made Jules look sane. He'd seen her kill people on a whim then laugh and skip away.

"So same place as always…the ruins?" she asked taking a sip of some drink or another, the drink she had ordered still sat in front of her untouched.

'Yet somehow,' he thought, 'she manages to conduct business, annoy the hell out of every gang in the city, kleiver, the precursor monks and stock pile more money than almost any one in the city.'

He nodded at her question.

"Thanks!" Eruka chirped happily she pushed a small precursor power cell towards him, "We never talked, get it? Or I'll kill you." she growled as she left.

Clue sighed, "and they call me bipolar…" he grabbed the power cell, 'wish I'd had this thing a year ago' he though as he sauntered out of the bar. He noticed both leapers had disappeared since his entering, 'Tylo Bandits probably stole them," he thought thinking of the Leaper children's rival gang.

He watched Eruka skip down a dark and eerie side street. He took a swig from his stolen scotch bottle and made his way home.

When he arrived, he found a very perturbed otsel sitting on his front porch.

"Your girl friend is nuts…" Daxter told him.

Clue shrugged, "saner than others."

Daxter just grumbled, clue walked past him and entered his house removing his bandana.

"Do I want to know," he asked with scotch bottle in hand.

"Is that scotch?" she asked threateningly.

"Nope…" he skirted around the edge of the kitchen and into the other room.

Daxter finally realized the door wasn't really locked, cause Jules had shouted very loudly at Jak to lock it, you really couldn't believe every thing you heard now a days.

And of course, Clue did conveniently leave it open.

Daxter glared at the two as they ate their soup. He scrambled onto the table and sat on the edge facing away from both of them.

"So Jakko how's the soup," Jules asked chasing a carrot around in the bowl with her spoon.

Jak grinned, "oh its just wonder...aaahhhkkgaah!" he chocked rather realistically.

Daxter turned and stared at his long time friend, "go screw yourself Jak!"

Jak grinned and slurped his soup; he hadn't been able to get the best of Dax in quite a while. It was a nice change of pace.

-thanks for all the reviews dudes... do it again ....lots!


	12. the couch

Well I was going write haliyula.. haliyewa halijah? I dunno my spell checker don't even know how to spell it. But any way yippee! My project is done. A chapter is in order. WOOOT! I watched the chronicles of Riddick last night. It rocked! DUOBLE WOOT!

Clue: ow… my head don't yell so loud!

Heheeh hangover man. That's all I got to say about that.

--Get Your Freak On--ch 12--

Jak stared up at the ceiling from his position on a very uncomfortable couch. He listened to Jules footsteps slowly crossing the floor above him; apparently, he wasn't the only insomniac.

For about the eighth time that night he wondered, "why?" this was the second time apparently that this Clue character had done him a favor.

"Why?" he asked the ceiling quietly, the ceiling was curios so Jak continued, "I did shoot up his dune buggy…he shouldn't be so friendly…" he wasn't so sure friendly was the right word.

The couch he was on was ungodly uncomfortable. He tossed over to his other shoulder. 'I wonder what he wants in return?'

"Shit shit shit, where's the sodium nitrate!" Jak stared up at the ceiling were the yell came from.

"What the hell?" he sat up and continued to stare up, he glanced at the ladder in the corner and considered going up.

"Haha! Got it!" he heard from above.

'What the hell does she have up there? A chem. Lab?' he wondered as he lay back down on the almost painful couch.

He stared up at the cracks in the floorboards above him. Suddenly light exploded through the cracks bringing a loud explosion with it.

Jak bolted upright. A furry orange otsel next to him rolled over. A tentative silence passed.

The trap door slammed open, and a very distraught Clue came barreling up, "Julianis!" he bolted across the room and scampered up the ladder.

The sight that greeted him was a large laboratory, counters lined three walls, and a table sat in the middle lab equipment drowned every surface. A large black scorch mark splashed up one corner and counter top.

He ran the short distance to the other side of the large table. Jules sat blinking dumbly. Her face was covered with soot, two pink goggle shaped holes pocked through around her eyes.

She looked up at clue; he still wore his khakis and his long gloves, which covered his shoulders and part of his chest.

"That didn't work..." the cute little mad scientist said quietly. He frowned and pulled her to her feet.

Jak stared up at the ceiling. If the ceiling could of it would have told him that staring was impolite. He listened as the two above him conversed in hushed tones.

"ITS WHAT I DO DAMNIT ALL!" he heard Jules screech venomously.

Some one stomped toward the ladder "fine." Clue growled as he slid down it.

Jak's COM picked this exact moment to chirp. Jak answered as the kitchen door slammed shut. "Now that I've woken your lazy asses up get them over here, king Damos want some one to clear out some metal heads." The COM went silent.

Jak grabbed the sleeping otsel by the scruff of the neck. By time Daxter came to his groggy senses, Jak was already out in the dark Spargus street.

Clue leaned over the porch's railing, looking more like the dark and quiet man Jak had met in the bar that day. "Where're you headed?" he asked shooting him an unreadable glance.

"Kleiver," Jak answered shoving the COM back in his pocket.

"What's that bastard want us to do now?" Daxter asked fully coming to his senses with a yawn.

"Kill things," Jak said with a shrug as he started down the steps.

"Wait let me get a shirt," clue turned toward the door, which was unexpectedly opened. A floppy hated woman held a long brown duster and stared harshly at him.

Next thing he knew he blinded by the duster and the door was slammed in his face. He pulled the jacket off his face and stared at the door indifferently. He tried the knob, it was locked.

"Some one's gona be sleeping on the couch." Daxter said overly loud to Jak.

Clue threw on the duster to cover his lower abdomen. With his strange belly shirt glove combination abomination, he looked like some kind of male striper.

Jak started to walk into the street, clue caught up, now fully clothed in his trench coat.

They walked silently for a few blocks; Jak gave him a look like he was crazy as he patted down his pockets almost frantically.

He pulled out a very crumpled red cigarette pack and stared into its empty depts. "This day just keeps getting better," he said obviously unhappy.

"What?" Dax asked hopping from Jak's shoulder to Clue's. He had missed the whole dilemma; a very hot waste lander girl with a very low cut shirt had walked by. I wonder what had distracted our ever so chaste otsel?

Daxter peeked into the very empty carton. Dax noticed the small box moving toward his head to late.

Clue crammed the carton over the otsel head and pushed him back towards Jak.

Jak caught him as he fell of the waste lander's shoulder. Jak tried not to laugh as Daxter tried to pry the crumpled carton off his head with varying amounts of success.

"Do you know how uncomfortable that couch is?" Clue said more than asked as they turned the corner.

Jak frowned and nodded as he pulled the box off his ailing friend's head.


	13. CLues bane:Ultra lights

Really crappy and short chapter…. It wrote itself and it just kinda ended itself! And I hate page breaks, so I'll get the next chapter up real soon to compensate.

-- Get Your Freak On --ch 13

Jak and Clue finally made it to Kleivers after a long silent pilgrimage. They really should have taken leapers. The dark chilly streets had been just as crowded as their scorching hot counterparts during the day.

When they arrived at the garage, it was deserted. No Kleiver greeted him with keys to a new less smashed vehicle.

Jak and Clue stood side by side in front of the dune buggy, in that way men do when they are displeased with a piece of machinery but don't want to admit it.

"It could still take a few more hits…" Daxter said with waning confidence.

The two young men just gave him identical looks.

"Have you seen the metal heads in these parts?" Clue said turning suddenly toward the other vehicle, "we'll take mine."

" I thought I shot the shit out of it?" Jak said skeptically.

"Just the front plating," he said taping the bullet-pocked hood of the car.

Daxter gave him the evil eye, "you just wanted Kleiver to pay for it…"

Clue shrugged as he dug out the key, "It worked didn't it?" he mumbled. He reached to open the door and stopped dead. Five deep scratches squiggled across the across the deep blue paneling in a horrible imitation of a metal head slash. Clue glared at Kleivers handy work

He straightened up and threw the jingling keys at Jak. "Excuse me..." he said in his seemingly uncaring and cynical tone.

Jak jumped in the cockpit, it didn't seem too special, "lets see who drives now," Dax said a bit evilly, sometimes Jak was convinced he was rubbing off on Him.

"You read my mind." Jak looked out the windshield to see where Clue had wondered off to.

Jak watched him enter a small office on the other end of the garage, carrying a hammer. Jak have grinned in amusement, and leaned back to watch. The office had a large grimy picture window in it about desk height. A light flicked on.

He saw Clue's dark form rummage around for a moment. He could vaguely see him pulled out a Com from a draw. The Com was then swiftly executed with three power full and rather violent blows of the small hammer. Between the distance and the sound of the engine, he witnessed the death of Kleivers COM on mute.

A moment later, he walked out of the office leaving the light on and the murder weapon behind and carried a green pack of cigarettes.

Clue opened the driver's door and to Jak's surprise reached up above the seat.

"You ready to go?" Daxter said acting like ego inflated self, secretly urging the elf to in the passenger seat and endure Jak's driving.

Clue grinned, "Guess I get to shoot." He said handing him one of the headsets he pulled down.

Jak glanced at the piece of technology as he put it on; it was red and had the words _Dice _painted down the side in precursor scribbles.

Clues voice crackled into his ears, " that rat didn't honestly think this thing would shoot itself? "

Jak grinned, "Lets just kill something…."

Clue didn't answer. Jak looked up just in time to spot the ofice's light blink out, 'thats odd...' he thought.

Jak ignored it andgunned it out the mechanical gate and onto the sand.

SuddenlyHe heard Clue gagging and chocking over the COM, "you okay," Jak asked. Daxter stared at Jak's puzzled expression.

"OH GODS!" Clue shouted over the static, "I knew these weren't my brand but hell they taste like shit!" Jak returned Dax's concerned look. The otsel shrugged having no idea what was being said.

The dune buggy rumbled over the sand and deeper into the night. From his reclined position in the turret's seat, he tossed the little green pack over his shoulder.

The words 'Spargus Ultra Lights' scrolled across the abandoned carton.


	14. remeber that time?

thanks for all the reveiws every one!!! number 30 gets a prize! so read on my faith full readers!

Alright this chapter was inspired by something that happened in my jak 3 game…. I got the desert hoper and I was jumping around in the ruins and it got stuck on top of one, so I jumped out, I look back up and my car is still up there and I had to walk back to Spargus!!!

Remember that time???!!!!!

--- Get Your Freak On --- ch 14---

Clue stared at his bare feet propped up on the gun controls as they bounced through the desert night. No shoes, no shirt, no gun. He groaned, the indignity, he had been thrown out of his own house in basically his pajamas.

He pulled the snaps on his gloves and freed his hands from their prison. The dark shadows of the night concealed his hands well as the gloves had and hid them from view. He cracked his knuckles audible. He really couldn't wait to kill something.

The dune buggy rumbled between two dunes towards a large and tall rock formation. Clue heard it before he saw it.

Suddenly a massive dinosaur like metal clad beast roared past the hood of the car. Jak eyes went wide and hit the breaks.

"HOLLLLY SHIIIIIT" Daxter screamed from his strangle hold on Jak's head. The beast nearly trampled them as they slide to a stop.

The beast raged past them, kicking up sand in its wake. Jak threw Daxter off his head, "that's not what I think it was…" he asked the headset. In his usual manner, Clue did not respond.

Jak felt the vehicle shudder as the first shots came from above.

Clue followed the over sized metal head with his gun barrels, a maniac's look glinted in his eyes as Jak hit the gas and raced after it.

"How fast are these things!?" Daxter asked as the metal head beast easily out ran the dune buggy. It stopped turned on a dime and faced them. It charged.

Jak hit the brake, ready to floor it in reverse. Clue hadn't stopped firing.

"Charge it," Clue said lowly in an eerie way in Jak's ear.

Jak grinned wickedly and floored it toward the oncoming tyrannosaurus like monster.

Shots echoed across the desert as the turret shot as fast as it could as it counter charged. The beast never slowed or fault while blazing yellow shots seared its flesh. It charged like berserker juggernaut, caring its cargo and destroying its opposition with single-minded determination.

The metal head's legs unexpectedly crumpled under itself and slammed to the ground with an explosion of sand.

Jak slammed on the break and slid to a stop inches away from the monstrous cadaver.

Daxter took a few deep breaths. Jak glared determinedly at the dead thing before him. He opened the door and leaped from the vehicle, Dax leapt acrobatically on to his shoulder.

"Metal head commander do you copy, Metal head…" Jak heard a low rasping voice shouting, off to the side of the monstrous creature a small COM sparked and the image flicked in and out. A robotic abomination of a head swiveled and bounced in Place.

Jak stared down at it scowling, "YOU!!" the face shouted hatefully. Suddenly the creature's tail swung to life and lashed out in front of him smashing the COM into the sand.

Jak fell back, scrambled back to his feet, and raced toward the vehicle.

"COME ON!" Clue shouted from his standing position on the top of the turret. The creature struggled to its feet and shook its head in a dog like manner. Dark blood oozed slowly from its wound-pocked body.

Jak leapt into the still running dune buggy and threw it in reverse as fast as the wheels would take him.

"Oh shit," Jak heard though static. The metal head charged again at the fleeing vehicle. Its heavy feet carried it ominously across the sand towards them.

Clue, seeing the inevitable and being on the out side of the dune buggy feared for the worst. He fumbled with the harness straps on the gunner's seat.

Jak grimaced as the metal head gained on them; its glimmering gold skull gem seemed to fill the whole windshield.

'Click' Clue's harness snapped together just in time as the monstrosity lunged at them.

For the second time in a twenty-four hour period, both men found themselves tumbling through the sky in an air born tin can of doom.

Daxter screamed at the top of his lungs, the sounds of profuse swearing could be heard coming over both ends of the headsets.

The sudden impact racked his body but spared him a head wound. He hit the break and felt the large vehicle slid across rock on two wheels. The vehicle stopped and for a few hesitant moments they just sat there.

Jak switched a large switch marked 'lights' and two massive floodlights flipped on. He peered through the windshield at the illuminated rock face before him.

"Jak…" Daxter asked slowly from his position on the dash, "were did the ground go?"

And behold as Jak leaned fore ward and took a closer look, the ground did indeed disappear. He stared in disbelief as a metal head beast ran by them a good thirty feet below them.

"Clue…" he asked into the com. He didn't answer, but as the metal head juggernaut entered the light a long burst of fire sounded and the thing went down for good with a loud howl.

"Turn on the other lights," Clue growled over the headset. Jak took a moment, and switched them all on, revealing the small rock formation they sat upon.

A groan transferred thru the com. Jak wondered how the hell they where getting down. Jak heard the cannon above him swivel.

""Die MOTHER FFFF…" another burst of fire sounded as another metal head charged into the light. By time the thing had made it to the rock pillar itself, it was dead.

Jak leaned back in the pilots seat as Clue picked off the beast from they're elevated position.

" Jak? Jaaaaaak?" Clue's voice asked in a slow and annoyed way.

"Whaa!" Jak jumped surprised, "What?" he asked composing himself.

"Way to go Jak, sleeping on the job, your coming up in the world," the otsel said arrogantly.

Jak glared, he hadn't even realized he had nodded off. He glanced out the window at the metal head carcasses below them on the sand; the sun looked like it was about ready to peek over the dunes.

" You still with me?" Clue asked sarcastically.

"Yeah…." He said still glaring at the otsel for letting him fall asleep, he still couldn't believe he had fallen asleep with artillery fire going and all.

'Whack!" Jak got the great honor of jumping again. As a glove hand smacked onto the side window, " then get your ass out here…" Clue half yelled from outside the driver's door.

Jak grumbled and joined him by the edge of the rock pillar they where parked on. Jak stared down the good thirty feet that separated him from the sand below.

"How did you manage, that." Clue asked in an almost accusing way.

"Lets reflect…" Daxter said slowly, " he was driving…" he pointed at Jak in an exasperated way.

"Hey wait?" Jak said sounding a little over defensive.

"Well, come on," Clue said as he lowered himself over the edge in one swift movement, "you want to get going before the sun rises?" he disappeared over the edge.

"What about your car!" Daxter yelled after him.

"Unless you want to drive of the edge, the sand storms can knock it down. Now are you two coming or not." He continued his descent.

--- leniabsulutlylovespagebreaks—

Jak and clue stood on the top of a near by dune and stared back their handy work. The small blue dune buggy glinted in the early morning sun. It sat on its rock pedestal and looked very much like some goliath mounted trophy.

"Dude, that's your car," Jak said.

"…You where driving," clue said with a hint of bitterness. Jak grumbled and they trudged off toward Spargus.


	15. i'm good

Coming to you from blizzard conditions! I can't see out my ground floor windows and there is a five foot snow drift in front of my door trappin g me in, its also a white out. Yay and while i'm freezing to death….lets write about desert heat! woot plot! Thanks to,Jak and Dax freakand WRTD for reviewing. Congrates to Jak and Dax freakfor being my 30th reviewer!you get ten brownie points!Yay! Kay go read now. Remember read if you want, review if ya do!

-- Get Your Freak On-- ch 15--

Jak trudged through the ankle deep sand after Clue. He couldn't believe he had managed to get the dune buggy all the way up there and fallen asleepto top it off. Lady luck really had to have it for him.

They were just in site of Spargus's shield wall, and the sun had just about reached its zenith in the sky.

Clue groaned, he wanted to be back by now. He adjusted his heavy trench coat he had slung over his shoulder.

Jak was miserable, he was sweating buckets, and felt sticky all over and he felt the beginning of sunburn on his back. He had long since removed his shirt and managed to strap his sleeveless shirt around his waist, revealing his scarred chest to the harsh desert sun. Jak glared at Clue's back. He looked like his was just out for a stroll.

It was safe to say; Jak's mood had progressed from bad to foul.

Daxter's little nails were digging into his shoulders and he was just about ready to throw him off, when out of nowhere Clue grabbed him by the shoulder and basically threw him over a rock.

"What the HELL!" he shouted angrily at the dark haired waste lander.

"Shut up." He growled back as the sound of motors roared near.

Two brown spiked and armored dune buggies tore up over a dune and speed towards them, they slide to a stop far to close to the rock they hid behind for comfort.

"Who they hell are these bastards any way!" Daxter asked

"Marauders," Clue answered, peeking over the rock. Two men sat half in and half out of their vehicles, conversing quickly in a foreign language. They both wore masks, with bright colors and designs, with dark goggles built right in. One lifted off his facemask, revealing a shock of bright red hair.

"And?" Jak half growled as he looked himself.

"They're the local tribes that lived here before the city took root, any one in the desert is fair game," he said dryly, trying to keep his voice down.

Daxter groaned. Jak just looked as foul as he was feeling, just what he needed, more people out to kill him.

Clue took a deep breath, looked at the blond elf and otsel and groaned, as if all his problems stemmed from them. "We'll have to make a run for it"

Jak nodded and untangled his gun from his shirt that he had hastily tied around his waist.

"On three we go," Jak said.

Daxter Gulped, "oh God…" the city walls had to be at least a quarter mile away.

"Three!" Clue yelled and they leaped over the rock, the two men on top of their vehicles looked at them with wide eyes.

Clue and Jak ran past them, back into open desert and toward Spargus. Wild shouts were heard behind them, and a single shot rang out. It burst into the sand not two feet from Jak. Jak picked up speed, trying to catch up with Clue. Engines roared behind them followed by the sound of two twin chain guns.

Suddenly, a hot burning pain flared as a bullet grazed his bare shoulder. He stumbled for a step then slide to a stop, and spun around to face the on coming cars. Running wasn't going to work.

"JAK! Jak, buddy …." Daxter trailed off as he felt the dark eco crackle under his friends skin, "OH SHIT!" Dax leapt from his shoulder.

He flung his gun away, he'd had enough. He let his migraine consume him, and let the familiar yet painful felling rip through his body.

Clue stopped and spun when he heard a scream, well not so much a scream as a battle cry. He watched Jak's bare back fade to a pale purple, as the purple sparks cascaded over him. And he stood there as his comrade charged the oncoming vehicles with eco induced rage.

The marauder vehicle sped up, intent on running the oncoming figure over. Jak drove his fist forward, metal collapsing around his fist. The vehicle stopped with the sudden force. Dark eco rippled down his arm and into the internal parts of the smashed engine.

The driver stared down at the pale skinned demon before him with shock and fear. And he just stared. Then to his complete horror the beast starred back, with its bottomless pitch black eyes. He watched the purple sparks dance across the demon's powerful chest, the scars and muscles clearly visible. The marauder screamed something unrecognizable and probably foreign.

A surge of dark eco burst through the machine, Jak tore his arm away and watch the engine exploded, with pure sadistic pleasure.

Daxter scampered up Clue's hanging trench coat and unto his shoulder. He watched Jak's smoke obscure figure stumble back and shake his head, regain his normal skin tone. Clue was smirking for no good reason. Jak scrambled away from the burning vehicle, scooped up his gun and bolted toward clue.

Clue watched the second vehicle slide to a stop in the sand; the driver jumped out and rushed to the other mans aid. Then he to bolted.

They didn't stop till they reached Kleiver's mechanical door, as soon as the doors slammed behind them, Jak leaned against a wall panting heavily.

He didn't want to look at clue, so he just stared at his boots as he caught his breathe. The more he stared at his boots the more the sand inside them bothered him, so finally he gave in a and slumped against the wall.

He poured a small mountain of sand out of his boot, " I know you like the desert Jak but really now you can't bring it home with you," Daxter was rewarded with a boot thrust over his head. The otsel managed to squirm his way out. "AAACK EEELCH! OH GOD… THE SMELL!" the otsel tottered around melodramatically a few steps then collapsed.

Clue already had his trench coat back on and buttoned up, "I meet you back at my place….you going to be okay?" He asked sounding deep in thought.

Jak nodded, "I'm good…"

So, he was going to be like Sig and just pretend the whole incident didn't happen.

Jak watched him leave. His whole body ached, not to mention his shoulder was bleeding. He quickly emptied his other shoe of sand and untangled his shirt.

His sweat made his shirt stick to him and his light armor rub uncomfortably. Daxter sat on his should guard, chatting happily at him while he bandaged up his shoulder. And then they where off.

As he walked streets he had no idea where he was going, he was only wandering. 'So much for starting over,' he thought bitterly, remembering his high expectation for the city.

He nearly bumped into her before he saw her, Seem glared at him, and made some quick finger movements, "there you are, I knew I'd be seeing you again," she said in contempt, "that dark eco ore you have, it is dangerous…and in the wrong hands…." She trailed off.

"You can't have it," he said dryly, remembering it was in his pocket.

" Yay! Go find your own monk boy!"

Seem squinted at the otsel, "I'll bet this light eco ore against yours, that is if your up to a race," she said with a sly smile. Jak gave her a quizzical look, how did these people know how to bait him.

"What kind of race?" he asked.

Seem motioned to the leaper behind her, "my precursor monks use these creatures to retrieve artifacts, we train them well." She said the last part as if this some how made the blonde before her inferior. He lifted an eyebrow as he watched Daxter inspect the Leaper behind her, as Seem continued to talk at him he noticed the similarity between Dax and the kanga rats.

the flut-flut like lizard lounged at the fuzzy orange rodent and atempted to make a lunch of him.

Jak burst out laughing, Daxter's two little paws kicked frantically from the jaws of the over grown lizard. Apparently, the leaper saw the similarity as well.

Seem did not look pleased, "Barush, barush," she crooned gently, caressing the creature. The leaper spit Daxter out unceremoniously.

"YUCK! Lizard drool." The otsel wiped a glob of it off his face.

" I'll see you back here in the market tonight," she said pointing at the ground and sounding a bit like a professional drag racer.

Jak nodded, and she faded back into the crowd. This light eco crystal intrigued him, there wasn't supposed to be any light eco around anymore. He frowned, what was he getting himself into. He groaned, he was still managing to get himself wrapped up in something.

"Stupid monks and their stupid leapers…." Daxter grumbled, "we're going to kick their asses tonight!" he cried triumphantly. Jak shrugged, "hey buddy you gone mute on me again?" A fuzzy upside down face entered his vision.

"No…I'm good." He said not sounding convinced of what he said.

"Oh what's that?" Daxter said suddenly pointing at a large crowd of people. A flood of people swarmed toward the arena, "hey, don't we need like three of those things from there or something," Dax asked using is wonderful memory skills.

"Yeah," Jak said with a sigh and head toward the entrance.

He strolled into the arena and stopped in front of Damos's throne. The king smiled, "I see you are back for a second battle amulet. In the arena we fight with honor and bravery," he pronounced, he motioned at the blaster upgrade on a small table before him. Jak smirked; at least something good was going to come out of this day.

Jak twisted the new mod into place, nodded at Damos and hopped on the elevator.

As the machine clanked downward he saw four prisoners marched into the arena below him, two red heads, a blonde girl and an older brunette man, two other prisoners where escorted in separately, both wearing green and black gang colors.

Peckers voice boomed out over the stands and the arena, "today our contestants are a group of marauders caught attacking our citizens in our desert, two criminals off our own streets," the crowd exploded, Jak watched the two young men be released. They didn't look quit so excited as the crowd. Jak's elevator touched down at arena level and he got of, "And finally we have Jak! And his annoying pet, the winner today will be allowed to go free!" the crowd exploded again.

"FIGHT!" Damos's voiced commanded, echoing over the stands.

The two gang members dashed behind a crate, dodging fire from the blonde marauder girl. When those two left her sites, she focused the attention of her twin pistols on Jak. Jak ran toward her firing, she rolled out of the way.

One of the red head's jumped at him, curved saber in hand, "Oh shit," Jak shouted as he stumbled back ward and began to dodge the sword strikes. Then the other read head came up suddenly on his left. Jak blocked the next sword slash with his gun. He realized just then that his two attackers where twins.

Identical in every way, they even wore some kind of uniform, they're brown tunics sporting matching red emblems.

Jak rolled backward away from the oncoming swords men; he quickly contorted the gun with a twist back to the scattergun. He fired, throwing the twins back.

Jak looked around quickly, one gang member had just shot the older marauder in the head. The young girl went after them with a vengeance. She slammed the taller blonde man against the wall, aimed a gun to his chest and fired. With a red blast, his chest opened up and splattered her with its contents. She watched him slide down the wall with her bright green eyes. blood splater decorated her once inocent pink tank top.

It took Jak a moment to figure out what made her seem so strange to him, it was her ears, they where small, too small. They where about half their normal size and tattooed.

"What the HELL is up with her ears!" Daxter asked from his shoulder. The two twins ignored him now, and one charged the second shorter man who was aiming his gun at the girl. The girl turned just in time to see the red head bring his sword down, there was a sickening sound and she watched blood spray up ward from the headless corps. The body teetered back and fell with a slump. The crowd exploded again.

Jak watched the head slowly roll toward him, its dead face trapped forever in an angry scowl. Jak kicked it out of his way as he manipulated his gun back to the blaster mod and approached the remaining three marauders.

The red laser targeting dot danced over the girl's chest, she still stared at the read head the dead corps with a confused and inocent expresion. Jak fired, the young girl let out a blood-curdling scream.

Jak watched her fall back, blood bubbling out of her mouth.

"VIA!" the closest read head screamed and ran to her, the other charged, Jak aimed and shot.

He swore, the boy stumbled but kept coming, blood seeping out his shoulder. The red head jumped him with a loud battle cry. He leapt high and crashed his feet down on Jak's shoulder. The marauders feet smashed him into the ground, knocking the breath out of him and sending both his morph gun and Daxter flying.

The next few events happened so fast that Jak wasn't sure how he managed them. The boy brought his blade down, aiming to slice his jugular open. Jak, not quit sure how it happened, grabbed the boy's wrist and twisted. With a scream, the curved blade popped from his hands and skittered across the arena floor.

Jak brought both legs up and kicked him up and off him. The red head landed with a thud and rolled to the right as Jak lunged to punch him in the stomach. He jumped at the marauder before he could scramble to his feet, he pinned him on the ground, wrapped his finger around his neck and squeezed. A frightened look passed over the boys face, Jak grinned.

The boys oxygen deprived face suddenly change expressions, Jak snapped his head around just in time to see the other twin charging him, sword upraised. He rolled of his brother, but not fast enough. The warrior marauder swung his sword and nicked him across the side.

Jak's hands reached for the wound as he rolled away. He turned and faced his enemies. The charging twin helped his brother up and said something softy to him, Jak couldn't hear it but he braced himself when one made a vague gesture at him.

Dax suddenly scampered up his shoulder, "What you waiting for? Get 'em!" he shouted in his ear. Jak ignored him and waited. They happened to stand between him and his gun.

The twin that had rushed him was crying, he handed his brother one of the girl's guns. The twin on the left brought up his gun, placed it on his brother's forehead, and squeezed his eyes shut.

Jak just stared.

" HEEKI…." He shouted keeping his eyes shut. The crowd went dead silent

The crying red head also raised his gun and placed the cool barrel against his brother's head, " EN TAHL!" he screamed in return. His scream was punctuated by twin gunshots.

"HOLLY SHIT!" Daxter shouted, breaking the deadly silence that had passed over the crowd after the twin's bodies had thumped to the ground. The silence continued.

Damos's voice suddenly boomed over the silent arena, "and our champion is JAK!" the crowd suddenly roared up.

The twins' death left Jak feeling extremely uneasy. And as he stood before Damos, the king handed him the amulet, but there were no words of praise. Just the amulet and a nod. Jak nodded back, not knowing what else to do and left.

As he trudged down the stairs, he held his side. When he reached the bottom he leaned against a near by wall and lifted up his shirt. It wasn't deep, little more than a scratch. But it hurt like hell.

"You gona be alright Jak?" he asked, for once not yelling, "cause you're bleeding in more than one place." He finished with a laugh.

"Yeah… I'm good," he said with more conviction than when he had said the same words earlier.


	16. leaping lizards

Hmm… another case of a chapter writing its self, and I promised plot (cries)… I gota stop writing short unimportant and boring chapters, I'll never get to the end if I keep up like this. But i'm glad every one liked last chapter, Wrtd made me feel warm and fuzzy! More brownie points will be rewarded for the 35th reviewer and… I better get at least three reviews…or or or I'll cry!!!

Clue: just incase you forgot: leni owns nothing…. except a few things. But nothing that belongs to naughty dog. And fortunately there is nothing you couldn't or could do to make her stop this drabble. Oh…Leni does not own any thing vaguely final fantasy related, not even the game disc or the system.

--- Get Your Freak On--- Ch 16---

A first aid pack propelled itself into Jak's chest, he caught it by reflex. Clue stood by the corner off the wall, complete with shirt, chest plate, gun holster, and cigarette. Two leapers, trailed behind him, their reins firmly held in one hand.

Jak looked at the pack and back at him with a blank look, " you owe me a favor," he said gruffly, taking a drag off his cigarette.

"Wait, wait, wait…" Dax hopped off Jak shoulder and walked toward the waste lander accusingly, "you said we didn't owe you anything!"

"Trust me."

Dax glared. Jak didn't really care; he just needed something to do. Something to take his mind off the arena, before he started to dwell on it.

'heeki en tahl,' the words rolled around in head unwantedly.

Jak opened the kit and moved toward a water trough. He took a seat on its edge and proceeded to stick the green eco spliced bandages on his assorted wounds. He was never quite sure if it was him or if they just didn't make the little kits like they use to.

Daxter stood on the side of the trough, berating Clue with questions as to how he got Jules to let him back in the house. Clue ignored him and smoked his cigarette. To the rest of the public it looked like a normal Spargus scene, except of course for the furry talking otsel.

Jak pulled his shirt back down and Clue handed him the reins of a leaper. He immediately recognized as the plain green little creature that Kleiver had given him. While its master was occupied, Clue's darker leaper lunged at the delicious looking orange rat on the trough.

Daxter screamed like a little girl.

The thing's red striped snout pushed him right into the water. It chirped confusedly as its prey disappeared beneath the reflective surface. It shut one eye and cocked its head then stared down at the floundering rat, an oddly bird like expression. It chirped excitedly and started to hop from foot to foot.

Dax splashed his way to the side and pulled him self out and over the edge, he rolled across the dusty ground till he bumped into Jak's boot. Jak's leaper bent it's head down and snorted at him.

Dax screamed, a sound that could be curiously compared to the sound a pig emits when dieing.

"Hey." Jak growled at his leaper giving a slight tug at the reins. Its head popped up and looked at him, forgetting the wet rat at its feet. Clue's prancing leaper wasn't so cooperative, it pranced from foot to foot in front of the water trough, still waiting for the rat to emerge with hyper determination.

"Hey! Stop that….No…No!" the hyper mount began to resist CLues eforts to quelle it.

"Viscous! I tell you, viscous!" Dax screamed, not really helping the situation, Jak watched Clue's undignified struggle with the lizard.

"HEY!" Jak yelledat it loudly but not angrily.

Its bright eyes fixed on him and blinked. Clue tugged on its reins and maneuvered it from around the trough. Dax shook his fur with a cascade of water splattering every thing in a three-foot radius. Hejumped up onto Jak's shoulder before he mounted and took his normal position. Clue let his leaper trail behind him as he led the way.

"So where are we going?" Dax asked, his fur sticking out straight in damp clumps.

Clue turned mouth half open in response when suddenly his leaper zeroed in on the moving pointed projectile. It clamped its toothless jaws down hard on his ear.

"What the HELL! BAD Choco!" he tore his head away from the beast, "I'll kill you..." he finished coldly, murder dripping from every word. He stared daggers at the animal, which chirped happily in response.

"These things don't like you…" Jak said with half a grin.

"I wonder why…" the waste lander's voiceedged angry sarcasm, he gave hard tug on the reins and they continued.

"Who the hell names any thing Choco?" Dax shouted condescendingly.

"Jules named the other one, Bo…." He trailed off.

"Choco and Bo?" The otsel asked confused, "Dude, your girl friend is cracked."

Clue glared at him.

Daxter gulped and chuckled nervously, "…um…. where are we going again?"

"Precursor temple." Jak stared at him, " I usually avoid them like the plague, but this is important."

Jak sat on his leaper in silence as he thought about what the waste lander had said. He instinctively took a left at the corner, heading back toward Kleiver's garage.

"Hey… This way," Clue pointed to the right, reins still in hand. Jak cocked an eyebrow and followed.


	17. hot chicks, mental disorders

(Cries uncontrollably!!!!) I'm so sorry!!!!!! It wrote itself, I got carried away, and then it ended itself….. heeeh heeeeh eeeeehn! And I really wanted to write the important plot chapter! Gah! Oh yeah, I put the sub category for this as humor….it is funny sometimes, complain if you disagree!

Thanks to every one who reviewed! And I shout out to Jak and Dax Freak: My story is ridled with typos and grammar mistakes! It is completely unexceptable… beats self with stick

-- Get Your Freak On-- 17 --

"What… is this?" Daxter asked.

Clue had led them down a small side ally near the shield wall; a young and raggedy red head had let them in through a small door, leapers and all.

They now stood in an open-air garage, much like Kleivers, though the leapers far out numbered the dune buggies. The space was ovalish and large, on one side a line of buggies were parked and on the left, a ramp cut its way into the ground leading into some kind of passage.

A blonde woman walking a bluish leaper emerged from its depths and walked by them. The many squeaking noises coming from the passage indicated some sort of under ground stables.

The emblem on the mechanical door explained it all, Leaper Children.

Clue crossed his arms, " Leaper Children garages."

Jak looked as if he was about to say something when a loud and ferocious scream broke out, "WHAAAAAAT! I… I… I should BEAT you with my OVER SIZED GUN!"

Our two renegades' attention was drawn to a screaming dark haired woman, her hair was spiky and an over sized gun did hang on her back.

A brunette stared back at her, he failed miserable at his attempts to hide from her behind his unruly bangs.

"I'm sorry… but they got caught, saw them get sent to the arena my self…" he pulled the green and black bandana off his head and held it with both hands, in a humble and modest expression of remorse. Grief edged on his voice.

"Fine…." She growled, the young man took a few hesitant steps backward and disappeared into the slew of people. She turned in a huff, metaphorical storm clouds hovering over her head. Then with out skipping a beat she spotted the un-bandana-ed duo and trotted over. "LEAPERS!" she squealed happily as she attacked the creatures with pets and affection.

The thoughts of all three where plastered on their faces; Daxter's mouth hung open, Jak cocked an eyebrow, and Clue alternately stared up at the sky and then at his TO ERUKA!" Clue shouted at her losing his patience.

"Hmmm…what?" she stopped petting Choco and looked up, "oh you…."

Jak just stared at her, "Clue….?"

Clue groaned, "this is Eruka…."

"Wait wait he's getting to the good part," she said excitedly, interrupting him. It earned her a glare.

"She's the leader of the Leaper Children …" he trailed of, making it sound like an unforgivable sin.

Eruka slapped him over the back in a near friendly way. "Its not that bad, Now…What can I do ya for?" she asked almost sounding sane.

"Just need to use your doors," he pointed at the said opening. She nodded.

"NEKO!" she hollered, the whole garage went silent, a small scruffy lilac haired boy was pushed forward, "there you are!" she exclaimed happily throwing an arm around his shoulder.

The garage returned to its activities.

"Um… you rang?" the young boy asked a little nervously. Jak recognized him right away.

"I need some assistance… and since you are my assistant you are just the man for the job!" Clue smirked as he watched the boy's face darken.

"Now go open up those big doors I owe this guy some favors!" she smacked him on the back, sending him in the right direction. The boy hesitated, "Quick before he kills all of us," she hopped up and down a little for emphasis.

Clue leaned over toward Jak, "don't worry, she's always like this," Jak gave him the You-have-got-to-be-shiting-me look.

"LAADY!" Daxter pronounced, "You're crazy."

The spiky haired gang leader ignored him and continued to croon over Jak's leaper, "what are these bad men and their annoying talking rodent possibly be going to do with you in that big dry brown dusty desert! You're just so cute! I wonder what your name is…"

"Vicious," Dax said with malice.

Jak and Clue simultaneously rolled their eyes.

Jak watched with relief as the doors slowly cranked open. "This women is beyond crazy…" he said bitterly.

"You got that right." Dax told him as he jumped from the leaper saddle to his friend shoulder.

"Oh I know I'll name you!" the woman cried, "I dub you…. Cacti!" she blapped it on the snout purposefully with two fingers, " Just don't run into any, they hurt…" she whispered the last part, half to herself.

"Oh Mar, smite her…please…" Jak grumbled to himself. Clue snorted as if his words held some kind of private joke in them.

He stupidity of the woman amazed Jak. How could she possibly run an operation like this, He wondered who was really in charge there.

"You are free to roam about the desert!" she waved wildly at the pair in attempts to shoo them out the gate, "Now shoo I have things to do!"

"Quick, lets leave while we still can!" Dax said sounding a bit frantic.

"NEKO?" she screamed, the boy seemed to magically appear. "We're going to need to more men, make that six more men down in the market sector, the last two where caught. Tylo forces will be crawling all over the place; we'll take them from the east as a distraction. The others can come up from the south. Get some leapers ready we'll be leaving in an hour, oh while you're at it round up some volunteers." She barked orders out at her young assistant like a professional.

Jak stared at her.

Clue took the reins to his leaper and led it toward the door, "Don't let it bother you…"

"Yeah…Bi polar…" Jak looked at his orange friend as he muttered this. The otsel nodded in complete agreement.

"Hot chicks..." he tapped a fuzzy finger to his head knowingly, "mental disorders."


	18. camps, doors and washed out roads

Hey guys, I know I promised major plot, there's a little… this was actually apart of the next chapter, but I wrote the end first and tried to attach this part to it. It didn't work out so here I am. The doors mentioned are really in the game, near the marauder base and the temple; they have no use in the game so I am using them so there! Thanks for the reviews guys…do it again, LOTS! # Forty wins!oh…. before J&D freak beats me… (cowers) I'd like to thank her for taking the time out her day to be my beta reader! That's cuase shes a 'beta' reader than you! Yup, thanks lots and lots to her, I take no credit what soever for the good grammar shown below (grins and waves)

---Get Your Freak on-- ch18--

Jak was surprised; there hadn't been a single marauder yet. They plodded along on their leapers, the rhythm of Cacti's pounding gate thumping through his body.

As they rode, Jak tried to decide which he preferred, the desert or the water in havens port. He was swaying toward the sewer water.

As the leapers ran, they kicked up sand which got in every thing. His hair, his eyes, his nose, everywhere. All of this was with goggles and scarf equipped, too!

Yet again, Clue made it look like he was out for a stroll. He was deep in thought, his brows were furrowed together and he stared at the horizon like a man possessed.

"Are we there YET?" Daxter's familiar voice rang from the saddlebag.

"No!" Jak yelled back, wishing that he could curl up in a saddlebag and escape the sand, too.

When they peaked the crest of a dune, a surprising sight met Jak's eyes. Below him, on a small island in the river, was a fortified camp. The river itself would have been amazing, but the camp topped it off.

"What is that?" Jak asked, sounding a little amazed.

"What?" Clue snapped out of it and looked where Jak pointed. "It's a Marauder camp," he responded, "Over a thousand people live there."

It looked quite possible; houses, towers and tents filled the inside of the walls and more tents lined its shores and the neighboring area. Red and blue dominated the color scheme of the tents and flags.

The camp made him think of the two twins from the arena. They probably used to live there.

"Hey, Clue?" Jak asked, still staring down at the small camp. Clue didn't answer he just looked at him. Jak continued, "Do you know what…. 'Hecky on tale' means?"

"Heeki en tahl? Of course I do, why? Who said it to you?" Clue sounded immensely interested.

"No one said it to me, but what does it mean?"

"It's the founding principle of the marauder people, so to speak. It means honor and trust, or honor and loyalty."

Jak didn't respond, he continued to stare at the colony below him. The twins' death still didn't make any sense to him. It probably never would.

"Hey," Clue dragged him out of his thoughts. "Let's go."

Daxter popped his head out of the side bag. "What's so important about this temple, anyway?"

"You'll see," the wastelander replied as he kicked up his leaper into a run and headed off toward the sea.

They rode swiftly along the coast in silence. Finally, they stopped when the land gave way to small islands leading out to a spire of rock. Jak studied the rock spire for a moment; he assumed it was the temple from the way Clue glared at it. What really caught his attention were the two large metal doors embedded in the cliff face next to them.

"Hey Clue, what are those?" he asked, pointing at them.

Clue snapped out of thought and glared at the doors harsher than he had the temple. "Nothing," He said gruffly, " now come on."

Jak looked at him. He had given Clue the benefit of the doubt long enough; something wasn't quite right. He looked back at the doors as he followed the Wastelander. Clue looked disgusted. His leaper pranced from foot to foot, impatient to leap the next gap in the island chain.

Cacti flapped her little wings and squealed with joy as Jak leapt her over the gap. It put a whole new meaning on island hopping. Jak was also enjoying himself; a little risk, heights, Daxter screaming like a girl--it was all good.

Clue tugged on the reins of his hyperactive steed, "Stupid…thing!" He finally took control of it and turned it toward the next island. Jak followed behind and shouted as he jumped the gap. They followed a trail that spiraled up toward the top of the rock formation.

"What the shit?" Clue stared at the washed out road before him; the waterfall had almost completely eroded the trail.

"Can we jump it?" Jak asked. Daxter, who had emerged from the pack, gulped at the thought of it.

"Good thing your freaking, hyperactive--" He mumbled at his mount, patting its neck almost affectionately, before turning back to Jak. "Only one way to find out!"

He urged the animal it to a full out bolt, and it lowered it head so its backbone was parallel to the ground. Clue leaned forward as far as he could, trying to lower the air resistance.

When it reached the edge, it leapt with no further prodding of any kind. For a moment, Jak thought he wasn't going to make it, but at the last second the leaper opened its little wings and fluttered like crazy. One, tree clawed foot landed heavily on the edge and it leapt forward, sliding to a stop. It squealed happily and continued to prance from foot to foot. Clue looked relieved.

"We can't do that. Jak, don't do this!" Jak ignored his furry friend and backed his leaper up.

Like he had watch Clue do, he kicked the leaper into a full-out gallop. Then, as the thumping sound of the leapers feet stopped, they where airborne.

"SSHIIIIIIIIIT!" Daxter's voice trilled and echoed as they leapt across the chasm. Jak's eyes grew wide as he felt himself start to fall instead of being propelled upward.

Just then, the pale green leaper's little wings started flapping. Both clawed feet stretched out before it, and Cacti landed squarely on the other side. Daxter sighed melodramatically.

"Booyah!" Jak said calmly, trotting past Clue. Clue stared at the cocky younger elf and shook his head.


	19. 8 ways to kill a metal head

Suddenly Eruka appeared next to Jak. Whipping her giant gun from her back, she blew up the earth.

Leni: now isn't that pleasant? A little creature named Eruka snuck onto the key board and typed this in the middle of fight scene…but moving along tis my birth day and I'm old. Sorry it took me so long to type this... As I type…I swear to god….Eruka is in the other room playing Jak three and murmuring happily about how it vibrates when you ride leapers…..

okay…..um.. I'd like to thank every one who reviewed, that includes firecat, wrtd, jd freak and stone scorpion, all typo's and grammer mistakes bellow are mine..Jd freak is sick and can't proof read for me (sniff) GET BETTER SOON! read review…you know what to do

-Get Your Freak On- ch 19

"You got some monk buddies in there to let us in?"

Clue glared at the otsel, he tied the reins of his leaper to a column. Jak stared up at the columns, the short pillars rose up to attached to another platform on which another set of rows was placed. They carried on up like this for about forty feet, making a kind of pillar wall. A pair of large black precursor-metal doors loomed behind the pillars.

"They're precursor monks, do you really think they're just going to let us in?" as he said this the ebony haired man shimmed up one of the pillars and pulled himself onto the next level. He did so with an agility that could match Jak's own. Jak scrambled up behind him and the climb quickly became a competition.

They heaved themselves up at about the same time; Jak sat on the edge of the narrow catwalk catching his breath.

"Wow," Clue stood on the very edge and stared down. Daxter joined him at the edge and looked down as well. The poor otsel gulped. " I haven't done that since I was a kid," clue grinned.

Jak took one last look at his view at the sea and the waterfall and heaved himself up. "How we getting in?"

"Windows…" he pointed at the small holes carved in the side of the spire and walked across the catwalk toward the rock.

"Of course I can jump that," Jak said looking up at the small window carved in the rock above. Daxter looked down at the waves below, he was quite sure now that small creatures like himself were never meant to be this high up.

Jak crouched, Daxter snapped back to reality and braced for take off. Jak leapt upward, His fingers just caught the lip of the stone sill. He braced his feet against the rock face and used his upper body to pull him self up and swing his feet over the ledge and disappear over the side.

Clue heard a very loud thump, and twitched.

A few choice words from Jak floated out from inside followed by Daxter's angry voice.

"Nice one Jak, never seen anyone as graceful as you!"

Jak pulled himself up and glanced up at the high window near the ceiling. He groaned and took in his surroundings. Small dust motes danced in the lone shaft of light that cam e from the window; a large mosaic decorated the wall facing him. The room was some kind of hall way and ended in large metal doors on both sides. Jak took a closer look at the fresco before him.

It depicted some kind the battle; the left hand side was decidedly dark. Metal heads and other dark creatures charged toward a band people on the right. The metal heads where painted in over exaggerated gruesomeness, and the miscellaneous monsters seemed to have been plucked straight out of nightmares.

"…Those things are even uglier than the real thing…and that my friend is an accomplishment," Daxter chirped from his art enthused friend's shoulder.

The people on the right where surrounded by the light of a precursor above them, the people's faces where blurred and dirty, but the detail that was put in was still obvious

"Think that's the 'O' mighty mar?" the otsel quipped again as he pointed at the luminous figure in the center, most of the detail was obscured by the bright light. A pregnant and regal looking warrior woman stood behind along with other fierce looking tribal types. A man in armor in the corner caught his eye.

"OH SHIT!" Jak turned to see Clue half in and out of the window. A small piece of stone broke beneath his foot and he plummeted head over heels from the ceiling. He flipped once in the air as he fell. With a heavy thump he landed.

Jak and Daxter cringed simultaneously.

Clue lay on his back gasping for breath, "Aw hell…" he groaned with a cough as he rolled onto his side.

"'Cept for him Jak," Daxter pointed at the downed wastelander, "…he's got twice the grace you do, I give him a nine and half,"

Clue groaned and sat up. He hauled himself up, stretched his arms behind him, and cracked his back. He tilted his head and stared daggers at the rodent. Jak gave half smile; he was glad he wasn't the only one to fall on his ass.

Clue looked down one end of the hall and then the other, he shook is gloved finger like he was thinking, "That way." He pointed to the left.

"Are you sure your gracefulness," Daxter asked in a mock regal voice. Clue didn't answer and just headed down the hall, Jak followed.

He unbolted the large door and forced the rusted hinges open. A loud roar echoed from the other room and loud shots sounded as dark eco pulses exploded through the door.

Jak threw himself against the wall and drew his gun, he swore but the fire drowned the sound out. For once Daxter didn't scream like a girl. Jak glanced at Clue who was on the other side of the hall. Dark eco projectiles flew from the door like an evil flood, destroying the floors and walls behind them. Jak watched as a secession of shots destroyed the mural.

Suddenly the shots stopped; slowly Jak stuck his head around the corner. His eyes where met with about eight metal heads. The partially humanoid metal monsters where reloading, their large purple shield shimmering around them as they're lizard like heads cocked back and forth with the complex job of reloading.

Jak hated these things; he wished he had his Vulcan furry. He looked at the other side of the door jam to see Clue peeking around the corner as well.

Suddenly a shot rang out, Daxter watched as Clue's head was nearly taken out by a dark eco blast. He threw himself back into the hall and flattened him self against the wall. Jak looked over at Clue, who had done the same.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE METAL HEADS DOING HERE!" Daxter yelled over the torrent of shots.

"NO IDEA!" the Clue shot back, drawing his pistol from his gun holster.

Then suddenly the shots stopped, and then as if on queue both men stepped into the doorway guns blazing. Jak ran at the nearest one, each of his golden shots sizzling against the beast's shield.

The shield broke with a sizzling crack, and by then, Jak was on top of it. He swung the butt of his gun back and crashed it into its hideous metal face. Dark blood oozed from the joints in its exoskeleton.

Jak turned and fired at his next victim before the first hit the ground. As he ran toward the metal head, it aimed its long barreled eco blaster and fired at him. The dark eco blast whizzed past his head, he brought his gun up and shot it through the chest.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw blue shots nail one of the metal head warriors while it was reloading. It howled and fell to ground in convulsions.

Clue raced toward the nearest one, his pistol glowing blue like some kind of pygmy peacemaker. The metal head threw up its shield and braced for impact. Clue released his crackling projectile; it crashed into the shield with a sizzle. It seemed to short-circuit the shield and it disappeared. Clue charged it with a flying leap, crashing his knees down onto its chest and driving it to the floor. He crashed the back of his pistol into its face. The metal head snapped his jaws at him in a frenzy. The gun began to whirl and glow again. He shoved the gun into the beasts toothed mouth and discharged. Its head exploded it a bloody blast of eco and brain stuffs. He turned his head away and winced as a few dark drops splattered his cheek.

Two more gunners rushed toward Jak, he threw himself to the right as they fired.

"Do something Jak!" the ever-present orange weight on his shoulder yelled. His fingers slide across his morph gun in an experienced way as he transformed it into the shotgun of close ranged doom. He fired, hitting two birds with one stone. One careened into a wall while the other skidded across the floor.

Clue lunged at one of last gunners standing; he threw it against the wall and proceeding to bash it in the face with first his fist and then the back of his gun.

Jak raced toward the metal head slouched against the wall, he aimed and fired. Its mangled body jumped up the wall due to the force and what was left of it slid back down, the rest lay splattered on the wall.

He turned to the other downed metal head and stompedhis foot down on the ugly metal shelled creature's chest. He blasted the things head of in another beautiful red explosion, Jak grinned with a slight case of blood lust.

Suddenly a dark eco blast caught Clue in the shoulder. Jak turned when he heard the scream. He arched his back and stumbled away from his victim. He slouched his shoulders and panted heavily, he glared at the metal head that had shot him from underneath his bangs. His dark blue eyes seemed to take on menacing and luminous quality. He pointed the gun at his transgressor and fired. The blue shot engulfed its body as it keeled over and convulsed before dieing.

The other gunner took its opportunity and pounced. Clue spun, he grabbed the thing's face with his hand, and he dug his fingers around the sickly yellow gem imbedded in its fore head. With a sickening noise and a twisting motion, Clue pulled back his hand and his bloody trophy. He dropped it and let it clink across the floor as the creature before him had an epileptic seizure. Its claws compulsively clench open and shut as its back arched and it squirmed across the floor. Major arteries in the head and brain burst at random, turning the things head into a quaint yet grizzly fountain. Suddenly it went limp, the last few agonizing seconds of its life over.

Jak ran over and slowed as he reached him, "you okay?"

"These damn things just piss me off," Was all he had to say as he gave the carcass a viscous kick. Jak shrugged; they pissed him off too.

"Don't worry buddy they piss us all off," Daxter reassured him from his perch on Jak.

Clue stood there for a moment examining his handiwork. Jak moved toward the only other door in the room and pushed it open. He wondered how on earth metal heads had gotten inside of the temple. He looked back at clue before turning his attention to the door. He wondered what the hell kind of gun Clue had and where he could get one.

He took a step out the door and was met with a large blue and white precursor statue. He turned back to Clue and gave him a dirty look. Why the hell had he brought him here? This was the very last thing he wanted to do. Receive some new quest from a glowy-eyed hunk of metal.

"Hey! Look Jak, its one of those googly eyed precursor things." Dax said happily. Jak groaned and shot a Clue a look.

"Something you'd like to tell me?"Jak asked rising an eyebrow in annoyance.

Clue shook his head and met him at the door, "like I said, trust me."

Jak gave him one last annoyed look and headed across the marble floored room.


	20. plot

Hmmm…well I'de love to thank every one who reviewed…wrtd and..um wrtd and also..wrtd! Who gives the 2nd best birthday presents ever! (pets her piece maker while staring lovinly at her brand new ps2) to bad my parents are attempting to play… my mom just called daxter a cat O.o I had a weird dream…Jak owned this little shop and he he was like extremely bipolar… like really meek then like tried to kill me. and clue hung around all day and made the room smoky and then eruka's little brother showed up and tried to buy adult rated material, (don't ask) and then I woke up with that song I'm buying a stair way to heaven? I think I have issues, (pets peacemaker) read and review! Oh if the words "what the HELL" cross your mind this chapter then my job is done. Authors rant over.

-Get Your Freak On- ch 20-

Clue hung back, half keeping a look out, half staying as far away from the googly eye precursor thing as possible.

Jak approached it, giving it a critical look. Why did the notion of dragging him a to a precursor temple cross Clue's mind in the first place. He didn't seem overly religious; he didn't even seem fazed by his darker side.

Jak wasn't surprised when the thing boomed to life, sprouting words of praise and throwing the word hero around. Precursor things always seemed to spring to life around him.

During its speech, he stepped onto the little dais.

"In the approaching final days, you will need every weapon at your disposal, we owe you much warrior," it boomed.

"Yeah that's great and all but…" the statue cut of Daxter's whining.

"I was talking to the tall one, shorty," it boomed with minor contempt. "As I said we owe you much and in return we offer you balance," it continued to boom.

The dais began to light up, Jak immediately regretted stepping on it, he was sick of being the hero. He told his body to move but it refused, a sudden feeling flooded his body.

Pain.

Pain flowed through his veins, enough to match the dark eco infusions he had once endured. It felt like fire shot through his veins, burning away at his flesh. Then it ebbed away, as fast as it had come. A calm decisiveness poured over him, he felt slightly removed from his body, and a little discombobulated.

Under normal circumstances, it would have been surprised or shock, but in his induced state, it came to him naturally, as if he had always known it. Like in dreams where the extremely bizarre is perfectly acceptable.

"JAK!" a furry otsel face stared down at him.

He bolted up right.

"You okay!" Clue shouted from the other side of the room at the door.

Jak looked at his hand, the bloody scabs on his knuckles from his encounter with a wall where gone. He peeled the bandage off his shoulder in a bit of a panic. It looked like the wound had never been there, not even a scar.

He ran a hand through his hair, vaguely noticing the cut on his forehead was gone, "…I'm good," and for once, he wasn't lying.

It was also the understatement of the year. It took him a moment to notice the two constants in his life where gone. The pulsing ache that his body dealt with day in and day out was gone. Just gone, it was like the Dark eco was very far away. He ran his fingers through his short hair again. After all those years of wishing, his migraine was finally gone. Not just feeling better; gone.

Besides being a little light headed, he felt great. He kept his revelations to himself.

"You sure buddy, cause you where kind of, blue and floaty and bright… that can't be healthy." The otsel told him, watching him stand up.

"Okay Clue, what the hell is going on" He said coldly still facing the precursor idol.

"Yeah!" Daxter yelled, taking Jak's side, "you broke us in, you can break us out!"

Jak, groaned, that wasn't exactly what he was talking about. He could just strangle Daxter sometimes. Surprisingly, he wasn't too angry.

"That way," Clue turned towards them, still staying in the doorway. He pointed to a doorway to their left

"Come on Jak! That way Ho!" Daxter said marching off toward the door.

Jak wasn't sure why he was so eager to leave this place now, but he was, maybe it was the itching feeling that this was only the beginning of something bigger. He was quite sick of being hero, even if had great benefits.

He quickly caught up with the otsel and passed through the doorway.

Clue followed Jak hesitantly, slowly walking half way into the room. Unlike his blonde companion, Dax hung back by the door. He was curios as to what was bothering Clue so much.

Clue watched the shining blue eyes of the idol dim and blink out, only after that did he deem it safe to pass.

He sighed and stared up at thing, "fear is the mind killer…" he said. Dax stared at him, wondering who he was talking to. The wastelander sighed, and head for the door, it happened to take him one step closer to the mosquito like soothsayer of doom. It boomed to life in a horrible angry way.

"Shit…"

"YOU" it boomed, enveloping the dark haired man the same bright light that had shined down on Jak. "You dare show your face here traitor!" as it roared, clue's limbs snapped together like a great hand was attempting to squeeze him to death.

"Who freed you!" Dax watched the wastelander's gloved hands convulse at his sides, "WHO FREED YOU!" it rumbled again.

A hiss of pain was the only answer it got from the floating victim before it. Clue chocked as he felt his body being constricted tighter.

"I …" he choked again, this time on the blood forcing its way out of his mouth, "I…I don't…KNOW!" he screamed the last word as the large precursor relic's power ripped through him again.

"LIES!" it boomed.

Clues head snapped back, blood splattered on the floor below and behind him. Daxter started to back away, "JAK!" he yelled in the general direction his friend had gone in, still backing away slowly.

Clue could feel it flipping through his head like a magazine in the dentist office. In the confines of his own mind, he screamed at it, cursed it, and wished it to every fiery ring of hell. It thumbed through all his memories, recalling all the dark, the agonizing memories he had never wanted to think of again. Each one was clearly brought to mind. War, Death, Failure, and worst of all the sounds of a breaking heart.

No one did this to him. No one.

Dax watched with growing distress as smoke started to drift away from his black gloves. Clue started working his fists in and out, and suddenly his eyes flew open.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

The thing dropped him, face first on the marble floor. Clue's eyes still glowed a dim blue. He lied still for a moment then struggled to get his legs back underneath him. He finally ended up on his knees, bent forward, his head barley inches from the ground and bleeding profusely. He spat the acrid tasting blood in his mouth. He watched the small spattering drops form patterns, for a moment not quite sure where he was.

"Unfortunately," the idol rumbled unhappily.

The unmistakable voice of the oracle snapped him out of his blood spatter reverie, he sat himself up, still kneeling, arms crossed over his chest. He slowly rocked him self back and forth.

"You still have purpose," the precursor artifact sounded ever so slightly disappointed, "You have passed…remember who you serve, traitor."

" I serve… no one," he growled under his breath with fierce determination.

The entity inside the statue retreated, Clue began to laugh. Dax stared, Clue was cracked. He just kneeled there, staring at his hands laughing. Blood slowly seeped from his eyes, red streaks decorating his face where the drops had rolled down his face. He spat out another glob of crimson; his nose and ears had not been spared either. But he continued laugh, removing his hands from his shoulders and holding them in front of him, he suddenly opened his fists.

Dax stared.

The cloth of the gloves had been completely burned through in the palms, revealing delicately scaled blue hands. Each finger tipped with a filed black nail.

"What purpose…could I possibly have…." He clenched his talons back to his Chest, "If I don't even no what the fuck I am!"

He collapsed over onto his side, leaving a very confused otsel in his wake.


	21. the flash back that almost wasn't

heheheh sorry for the super late update, yup here it is the lame flash back thing, ready go, and O.o i have to find creative ways to get all the armour and gun mods in the story, cause i'm doing every thing out of order and crap. grrrr! i wropte this chapter 18 time! with difrent flash back s and stuff and this is the one i liked the best, so with out further adue i bring you the flash back that almost wasn't.

Get Your Freak On Chapter 21- the flash back that almost wasn't

Clue glanced over at the dark haired young man in the blue hat. They could of passed for brothers. With the same build, matching hair and demonic grin it was kind of ironic that there was no shared blood between them. As far as either knew.

The rickety dune buggy launched over another dune, Clue grit his teeth and braced for impact. The vehicle landed with a heavy thump and nearly propelled him into the windshield.

"You mind not getting us killed before we get there Eric!" the other dark haired boy in the hat yelled toward the driver.

"I only got one bloody arm, give me a break!" the sandy haired pilot hollered back.

"That's your excuse for every thing!" Clue hollered back at him sourly.

"No sometimes he blames it on being drunk," a pixie like face with the complexion of a cocoa goddess peeked around the passenger chair. Twin ringlets of dark hair framed her faced, while crimson tattoos danced across her cheek and scrawled up the sides of her unusually short pointy ears, "but that one arm thing gets him more sympathy."

"So help me Lola I'll cut that tongue out of your head," Eric yelled at her. All three warriors burst out in chuckles in the tense atmosphere.

The vehicle had a large interior, most of which was filled up with two large machines that both cradled a small zoomer. Just enough room remained behind the seats for the two to stand. The vehicle came to a sudden stop. Clue rammed into his companions back and landed in a heap on the floor.

"Well, guess your uncle didn't lie when he said it would be a party." The older man said as he stared at the black mass converging on the dune before them. It was like the sand had come to life in a writhing mass of black. The dark skinned girl glared out across the desert at it, she pulled a large gun up from beneath the seat and began to load it.

Clue's face brightened in a dark way, the sound of several other vehicles coming to a stop were heard, he gave a glance to his companion with the hat.

"Now, first rule of combat, don't die…" the sandy haired man with the grizzled face said with mock concern. He gave a grin. The tattooed woman shifted to accommodate for the large primitive gun she held, she propped herself up so one foot dangled out the window.

Clue clapped a heavy leather gloved hand on his shoulder, "come on Reece, lets go show that stiff of an uncle whose the best zoomer pilots," he pulled the nervous youths hat down over his eyes as eyes and dashed toward the machines at the rear.

"Right," Reece fixed his hat and jumped onto a blue Zoomer beside Clue's, the machines took up most of the space in the vehicle save where they had been standing. Clue reached over the controls, gave the propeller a spin, and felt it rumble to life beneath him.

"You gona fly those things or wait till those bloody things are all over us…." The one armed driver yelled at them.

"Just go!" Reece yelled holding back a bad case of nerves.

"You mean charge?" he called back stubbornly.

"YES EXACLY THAT!" the woman in the front yelled losing her patients. The vehicle took off with a jerk, the sounds of numerous other vehicles sounded behind them.

Clue slammed his fist on to a large button, and the mechanism holding the zoomers slowly began to move as the vehicle picked up speed. He pulled his goggles over his face.

"So you ready for this," Reece said as he quickly flipped the bulky gunner equipment into place on his zoomer.

"Do I have to answer" Clue said icily as he flicked a few more buttons. Reece groaned inside, why did he always have to be so calm like that. He pulled the goggles over his head. It was like he was a whole other person sometimes.

"You freaks of nature ready?" Eric yelled back. Reece looked up suddenly and realized with a sinking feeling and that his stomach was being thrown into his throat as he had was ejected from the side of the vehicle.

The wind whipped by his face as he barrel rolled out of the armored dune buggy. There was nothing greater than this feeling for Clue. There was just something about an oncoming battle that made him feel so much more alive. Made every thing seem clearer. He hit the accelerator and raced past the vehicle that he had been expelled from and towards the black wave that was the metal head onslaught.

Nearby a small army of armed zoomer pilots burst from the sides of the bulky dune buggies. In turn, each one activated the large mounted gattling gun that rose out of the machines hood with synchronized precision.

Fifty zoomers raced ahead of the armored vehicles, across the flat sands toward a mountain of advancing metal heads. Primitive crawling things, mounted on tripod like feet, some looked as if they had been forcefully fused with centipedes and other insects of the exoskeleton variety. Then in a simultaneous boom, the beasts opened fire.

Clue swore and rolled to the left, as the air was pocked with a maze of searing purple lights. He heard a scream, and a yellow A-grav zoomer swerved in front of him bright flames streaking from the tail end. The struck machine drove itself into the ground with an explosion.

Clue grit his teeth. If he could make it through this, he could do anything. Prove to every one back home that he wasn't some tag along or some hyperactive freak to take advantage of. This battle would make him a man, or so he hoped.

He wove through the purple shots with impossible agility. You had to be quick to even make it in range of the metal heads; fortunately, quick was something Clue could do. He mentally willed the A-grav go faster, he was still out of range.

He felt the familiar crackle on the back of his neck, he grinned, and pushed the feeling don into his hands and into the zoomer. He felt the zoomer baulk beneath him as it rocketed ahead of the others.

He mentally counted seconds and judged the distance, and opened fire. As the others caught up and came into range, they took the incentive and backed him up with a barrage of fire. He took a quick glance behind him; they were down to less than thirty a-gravs. He spotted a blue hat donned pilot and assured himself.

He picked up firing again and went into a corkscrew, aimed straight at the enemy. Over the explosion of fire and the roaring engine beneath him, he could hear the wailing shrieks of the dieing creatures.

He banked right and flew parallel to the advancing edge of the horde. His fist had a white-knuckle grip on the handlebars as he shot the feet out form under the closest beasts, straight down the line. He continued to fire as the rank behind the fallen bests over took them, trampling and mangling their comrades bodies as they advanced. The ranks of the pilots went about the same strategy, weaving and dodging about the fire as they barraged the ranks with an onslaught of blue eco projectiles.

Reece had seen Clues sweep of the entire metal head front and had a much better idea. Before he hit the first ranks, he banked right, and swept low to the ground. He rolled his a-grav to the right so he hung off at a peculiar angle and had a side ways view of the black and metallic sea heading for him. He shut his eyes and let a hand lazily sweep across the sand. The graining substance grating against his fingers, only encouraging the burning feeling he summoned up.

Suddenly Reece opened his eyes, shot up toward the sky, as fast as his zoomer would take him. He leaned back from his machine and peered back down as the metal heads past his line in the sand.

The first ones hit the line with a wail, and an explosion of fire. They stumbled forward and fell as the rank behind them came to the same fate as the first. Rank after rank stumbled across there burnt and charred comrades. He watched the ground take the place of the sky as he flipped the a-grav up and around and rocketed back toward the body of the army.

The pilots harassed a large centipede like beast like a swarm of small annoying bees. Reece saw them and headed in. he spotted Clue coming towards the large metal head, and picked up his speed.

Clue opened fire on the metal head as he made a pass. The things flexible body wrenched it self around in attempts to swat the zoomers away. Reece went in for a pass behind and slightly below two other pilots. The beast let out a great roar, and with its massive pincers lunged out and snatched the zoomer to his right.

The machine crunched between the metal heads jaws and the pilot let out a blood-curdling scream. Reece swerved to the right, barreled past two others and nearly ran into another pilot. He spun his vehicle around as a new wave of fire crashed down on the monster.

Below him the armored dune buggies let out rounds of high-powered mortars, explosions racked the air almost constantly. The metal heads had yet to advance past Reece's line in the sand.

Clue went in for another pass on the largest creature on the battlefield; he approached it with alarming speed. He readied his finger on the trigger. Suddenly another pilot swooped by on a purple a-grav, firing like a mad man at the beast's head, the made loud hollow pining noises on the large neon yellow gem in its fore head. Suddenly the skull gem exploded into a thousand sparkly yellow fragments.

Clue hit the brake as hard as physically possible. The metal head went into a fit of convulsions, its large insect like head flailed out and crashed into it's slayer's vehicle, sending the pilot flying. Its long body rose up and twisted about its self like a possessed snake. Clue saw a thick black coil lined with thousands of tiny les rise up from the sand; he swerved away and directly into another.

The crash was sudden and so abrupt that he would never be entirely sure what happened, only that he found himself half buried in the sand next to a totaled zoomer an instant later.

He sat up painfully and pulled off his goggles, not really comprehending his situation. The explosions and howls of the dieing creatures where so loud he could barley hear himself think. Pain registered in his right arm, but seemed far away.

Out of the corner off his eye, he caught movement, he reached to his hip instinctively, but his blaster was gone. He looked up again in a panic, a large mutated looking creature moved quickly towards him on its tripod like legs. Viscous yellow eyes glared down at him.

He froze.

Just stared at the alien like creature before him as it fired a sickly purple blast at him, he watched it fly toward him with agonizingly slow speed. It caught him in the shoulder and rippled across his body. It made his fingers go numb and slid across him like cold motor oil. A cold sick feeling that slithered and crackled across his body, so cold yet he could feel it burning though him. Then nothing.

#lenilovespagebrerakswithaburningpasion#

"Hey! You okay!" some one shook him.

"It just grabbed him, and, um and, it, then, it shook him with its mind powers," the otsel waved his arms around melodramatically pointing from the downed wasteland and back to the statue.

"…Mar…" he groaned, Jak missed the questioning tone in his voice.

Clue hauled himself into a sitting position, "You okay?" Jak asked again, with a hand still on his should

"Don't touch me." Clue shrugged off his hand and clenched his fists tighter. His face was still a bloody mess. Jak glared back at him as he stumbled up to his feet.

Jak straightened up from his crouch and watched him make his way toward the doorway. Jak followed him through the winding hallways silently. It disturbed him that precursors would attack some one.

It wasn't till they entered a large circular room open to the sky that he said any thing, "Clue? What the hell is going on?"

He stopped suddenly in the middle of the room and turned, "I have absolutely no clue." The blood on his face was starting to dry into a gory mask.

Jak watched him stalk off toward the large metal doors. They were only locked from the outside and opened when he neared them.

Jak held his temper and followed him back out into the dry air of the desert. An uneasy silence passed between all three of them as they mounted their leapers and made the difficult leap over the waterfall and over the small islands leading back to the main land. Only the leapers seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Jak took the lead as Cacti thumped across the sand. Both men brooded as they traveled, in a way only men like them could brood.

He slowed when he saw Clue climbing up the ridge toward the marauder camp. Jak hurriedly followed him. Clue looked down at the small city of brightly colored tents.

He turned his leaper and faced them, "hey,"' he yelled, with a flash of blue he threw something at him, "I don't need it."

Jak snatched it out of the air and looked at it, a Vulcan furry mod. He furrowed his brows, "Thanks…" he looked up but Clue was already racing uninvited down into the marauder camp.

"That guy is messed." Daxter proclaimed from his shoulder.

"Besides galloping into a marauder camp," Jak asked sarcastically as he pulled the morph gun off his back.

"No," the otsel said, "back at the temple…" he trailed off, Clue and his leaper were just a little black blob now.

"Oh?" Jak clicked the new mod into place and looked at his companion.

"There's something weird about him, Jak, his hands…." The otsel trailed off again.

"Out with it already." He grumbled, returning the gun to his back.

He turned his leaper back toward the bright red beacon that he knew would lead him back to the city. He listened to Dax as he rode, He raised one eyebrow in curiosity then began to brood for the rest of the trip.


	22. maurader camp

AT LAST after a month of writers block! Hehehe lost of plot hint and foreshadowing! Hehe new chapter coming soon hopefully cause its summer! Still haven't thought of a better title yet… its ninety degrees today ..in MAINE! YAY!

Get your freak on--- 23

Clue mentally argued with himself as he approached the marauder camp. Neither side of the argument had a valid point yet. Though one thing had made itself very clear to the wastelander, today was not meant to be a very good day. He rubbed the back of his gloved hand against the dried blood on his face.

He looked up and spotted a bronze skinned adolescent on the crest of a nearby dune. He looked bale fully down at the sand from his cross-legged post, melancholy playing with his cafe length red shorts.

Clue managed a slight smirk at the baleful marauder youth, and shook his head. He pursed his lips and let quick whistle pierce the air. The boy's head snapped toward him and he stumbled to his feet. The boy' sheer blonde hair winked in the sun as he scampered over the dune faster than a kanga rat.

"Won't be long now…." He side to himself as he guided his leaper between two rows of canvas tents splattered with red designs. He knew the large tents were nothing more than portable garages for the desert peoples, but he couldn't help feeling that the place seemed deserted. He reached the end of the long row of tents and found himself suddenly thrust into a maze of people and smaller tents.

The people had stopped and drawn aside, it wasn't every day some one just wandered into their home.

Clue looked over the clusters of small hut like brown canvas tents, each decorated in either light green, scarlet or deep plum colored designs up and down them. Cloths lines connected the tent houses at odd angles and various articles of bright dyed clothing hung on them in the scorching desert sun. He could just make out the top of one of the posts that he knew marked a very large well. The tents sprawled out as far as he could see in either direction from his vantage point on his leaper.

'Nothing has changed' he thought with a bit of despair.

"Es-ce tu qui!" Clue blinked at the sudden female voice that barked at him. He scanned the few dozen faces staring at him. They ranged from the old wrinkled sand worn faces of old ladies to the young bright-eyed facades of cocoa skinned goddesses and freckled red heads. All women and children, from the folded garments everywhere he had interrupted laundry day.

"Es-ce tu qui!" the voice barked again, he snapped his head toward the voice in the crowd. A middle-aged woman with a long golden braid stepped out of the crowd with a large blaster. Plum tattoos trailed down from her unnatural short pointed ears down to her neck.

Clue glared at the woman, he had completely zoned out, which he fully realized was not a very intelligent thing.

"Who are you!" the woman yelled in her native marauder language taking another

"I'm hear to… speak with your chieftain…" he said digging the language out of his memory banks. It had been a while.

The woman blinked her large green eyes at him; apparently, she had been expecting to shoot him before he answered. A small murmur ran throw the crowd of women.

"Your accent is horrible!" lean young woman with a dark complexion ventured to yell.

He grunted. It wasn't going to the marauder camp that was difficult it was getting out with out a bruised ego.

"Wait! Wait! Don't shoot!" a boys voice yelled from behind in the same quick paced desert tongue.

"I wasn't gonna shoot him!" the woman hollered over her shoulder at the fair hair boy clue had seen on the dune. He raced toward them followed by two men dressed in a black light weight uniform that revealed most of their upper chest, small pieces of metal stuck out here and there and could or could not have been armor.

As they approached, Clue swung himself off his leaper and held the reins tightly.

"That's the one!" the boy shouted to the guards " gave the whistle and every thing."

The crowd of women parted for the two black clad warriors. One had a dark complexion with head of darker tight curly hair and was a head taller than the other. The other was a sun glazed bronze color young man with deep brown eyes.

"What business do you believe you have here, in our desert?" the taller guard asked rather formally and full of himself.

Clue just stared at the warrior, he was not in the mood, "I want to speak with Kilik." He said slowly hoping the use of their chieftain's name would speed things up.

The shorter guard seemed to take offense, " what do you want with the chief!" he shouted drawing the large curved semytar at his waist.

Clue stared at the sharp blade shoved in front of his face. Clue reached into his shoulder holster and whipped out his small pistol. The short guard blinked his mahogany eyes at the whirling unfriendly glowing gun.

"Tell him his old buddy Clue is here for tea time," on hindsight, which is always twenty twenty, he would realize this was not the brightest thing to say nor the wittiest but at least he had for once not had such a horrible accent for a moment.

The small crowd had backed up and the two young guards stared at him for a moment. The guard saw what he thought might have been a deranged glint in Clue's eyes, and the large bloody smudge across his face didn't help the impression.

"You, wanna put the gun down, please?" the short one asked staring down the angry whirling gun barrel.

"He's ah... been expecting you…" the taller darker guard said a little uneasily. Wondering if this was even the correct person his chief wanted to see. How many people out there could really have that weird of a name?

Clue blinked his deep cobalt eyes at him from behind his red stained mask. The guards paused for a minute then beaconed him toward whatever destination he was intended for. The shorter guard took a position behind him and kept his gun drawn. As they left the laundry scene, the crowd returned to work as if none of it had ever happened.

He holstered the gun at his shoulder and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he followed the soldier. His mind still felt horrifically muddled still, and there was something in the marauder camp that always brought out something young and brash in him.

The guard led a windy path through the camp tents and towards the small-fortified island to south. He soon found himself across the rickety wooden bridges and inside the crude walls of the fortress. Led across the stone courtyard, pass two armored vehicles and toward a large steel door. The two guards took up positions on either side.

Clue heaved a deep sigh and confronted the familiar door, he dropped the leapers reins where he stood, it wouldn't get very far if it wandered off anyway. He pushed the door open with a creak and the leaper chirped an unwanted goodbye. The bright desert sun gave way to the cool interior and long narrow staircase. The Dim light of torches flickered up from below casting the steps in extreme light and darks. It was all too familiar for him. He felt that with every step he was coming closer and closer to his childhood. His mind was still running in circles and his resolve for his intended actions were weakening. He let one hand run against the rough stones as he stepped downward.

The palm and finger material was burnt away, his mind stopped its circling for moment wondered how it was that no one noticed. He fisted his hands and stepped down into the large dim room.

A large table ran across its narrow length, surrounded by small chairs and green, red and blue banners on the wall. At the far end of a table, a middle aged man stared down at the peppers in front of him.

"Kilik?" Clue manage to say. The man's head snapped up and pinned him with youthful mahogany eyes. Clue blinked at him. Kilik's short blonde hair was turning silver in his age, one long pointed ear was missing the tip, and the other donned a large gold ring. Crows feet marred his face and betrayed his youthful eyes and sharp features. Deep crimson tattoos scrolled down over his ears and down his neck.

"Well…" he said standing up straight and crossing his arms over his dark leather tunic, "wasn't expecting you for a couple more months…"

Clue shuffled his feet, Kilik had gotten old since the last time he had seen him and a bit of guilt washed over him, "I'm not here to visit the crypt,"

A half smirk played across the marauders sharp features, "so what happened to your face?" he said lightly as if old friends with bloody faces walked into his hall everyday. He leaned against the table with his arms still crossed business like.

"Precursor temple," Clue replied temperamentally, the chief marauder looked puzzled but asked no more.

Before the chief could continue the questioning, he sucked in his breath and asked the question he had come for, "Do you still have the package I left here?"

The tension in the room doubled.

"A promise is promise, no mater how old." The chief told him tactfully. Clue looked away. He felt like he was fifteen again and had been caught with his uncle's zoomer. "It's been awhile, I know," Was as much as an apology as he could muster.

"Humph," was the reserved answer, "alright," the older man looked about his papers and scribbled something down on one.

He held out the note to him, "give this to the guard on the way out," he said with a nod, "and if you see my dearly departed niece tell her uncle loves her."

Clue walked down along the length of the long table, and took the note. Kilik's eyes lingered on the tips of clue's gloves. Clue glared at him and snatched back his hand and the note quickly.

He snorted, "Nearly blew up my house," he mumbled absently in the more common language of the cities and folded the note.

The bright eyed chief snickered, "well, I'm not sure what you've gotten yourself into, but stay out of trouble." He said with the first hint of warmness since the conversation started. "Or at least far from here…"

Clue looked him square in the eyes and frowned, "There's trouble," he said solemnly, the marauder language had finally un-rusted itself in his brain, "its not just big smoke problems either." He watched the chief's face darken, "just stay out, no attacks, no plans, something's…." He paused not really sure what he was trying to say, "something big." He finished slowly.

Kilik gave him a questioning look.

Clue shrugged, "maybe the monks are right…."

Kilik frowned at the mention of the monks. The monks had betrayed the tribes once and as chief he wasn't to fond of them and their silly religion.

"Like I said, something big." He repeated and shrugged.

The man paused thoughtfully, " Heeki en tahl" he said with a nod.

Clue blinked at him, and found he could only nod. And then he turned and left, back up the long steps and into the sun with out another word.

Choco stood next to one of the guards attempting to get some affection from him while the guard tried vainly to shove the creature away. Clue yanked the naïve animal's reins and handed the dark guard his note. The marauder read it quickly and nodded at him, and led him to another dark room adjacent to the courtyard.

It was an old must store room, the guard opened the door and told him what he was looking for should be in the back. Clue nodded and returned a moment later with a small narrow chest. A large details lock hung from the latch.

"How are you gona open that?" the guard asked rhetorically noticing the lack of a keyhole on it or any other opening mechanism.

"Magic." Clue replied gruffly, attaching the chest to the leaper's saddlebag.

Clue ignored the guard and set about the time consuming task of properly adjusting the leaper's tact to compensate for the extra weight. The dried blood on his face was really starting to bother him but he tried to put it out of his mind, he ran a half gloved hand through his hair. He loosened the last buckle of the saddle with a small grunt and looked up at the guard. The guard's line of sight intently followed his left hand. Clue glared bloody murder at him, and slowly moved his hand up and then down, he watched the guard's eyes slowly follow the movement.

"Hey" the freak of a wastlander snapped at him, "what you looking at."

The guard stammered.

"That's," he said as he mounted the leaper, "what they all say."

The guard watched the leaper trot away in the happy mane that all leapers seemed to posses, "Blue freak…" he muttered ill temperedly and took his post back at the steel door.


	23. quick like kangarats

Wow this story is complete nonsense…I just read the whole thing…..why do have a crap load of reviews..no idea…I wonder if I'll still get some if I update again….

This chapter exist for 5 reasons 1) I havn't updated in forever 2)filler 3) to explain those weird red graffiti symbols all over spargus 4) I was bored and 5) eruka buged me about but it took till now for the message to reach my brain. Oh yes and because eruka's teeth were itchy O.o don't ask I don't know.

get your freak on--23

Jak rode the leaper through the crowded streets. it was well after noon. He hoped Clue had some idea of what he was doing, riding into a maurader camp like that. Good out comes apearntly wern't synomise with tthose desert tribes. He groaned to himself. Som many things he realy didn't want to think about. Especially after Dax's little story on the way back.

"why can't my life be simple, its not like I'm asking for it to be easy…" he thought to himself.

"what do we do now budy?" Daxter inquired from his launging position ontop of the saddle bag.

Jak just shrugged. They could go see if Jules had calmed down, or if kleiver had a job or maybe just wander about.

The last one seemed most apelealing even though he knew it was the choice most destenied for trouble.

Jak erged the leaper through the crowd, the creatures made the task easy. Cause no one wants to get steped on by a giant lizard.

They were in the large market area by the sea now, the smell of the ocean and the varius things on sale asualted his nose. He brought his leaper to a stoop at the top of a pile of some uneven sand rock. It was just after noon and people were flocking the market and he contented him self with watching them, doing a bit of babe waching on the side for once.

Jak felt the light armor he wore shift un expectantly, "Dax what are you…." He shifted his shoulders and heard a gasp and a click.

"the hell?" he yelled tuning on his mount. Jak's eyes caught a blur of red.

"JAK HE'S GOT YOUR MORPH GUN!" captain obvius otsel screamed.

The dark haired boy was scampering off, jak's gun held precariously over his shoulder while his long trench flew behind him.

Cacti squelled in surpise as Jak kicked her into a gallop.

The boy looked over his shoulder at his persuer and dodged into the crowd, which jak foolow him into and continued to plow through.Cacti impatiently headbutted a large man with a yellow bandana in her pursuit of the fleeing red object.

The leaper burst free of the crowd not a moment after the kid, followed by an angry man with a flaboent yellow bandana.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!"the man yelled after him and finished up with a few offensive pronouns.

Jak ignored him and urged his leaper to jump onto the nearest door stoop. Daxter meanwhile gave the gang member an offending bird and a few words that rhymed with fire truck.

Jak jumped the leaper to the next door stoop and quickly passed the kid below him. With a heavy thud the tree toed feet of the leaper landed in front of the fleeing thief. He slid to a stop and tumble backward onto his rear end.

The boy stared up at him with big brown doe eyes that could've made any mother weep. His large red coat was much too large and could have fit three of him in it. Jak glared down at the little thief as he held the oversized gun protectively.

Suddenly two shots rang out. The kid screamed, the leaper squealed and Jak swore.

The kid rolled behind a fruit stand and attempted to point his stolen gun at the gang member. He nearly droped the gun as he shot it. He missed horribly and blew a large cowboy hat off a nearby bystanders head.

Jak threw himself off the leaper and toward the kid, "give me the god damned gun!" he snatched it out of the kids hands.

The man in the cow boy hat had joined the on with the yellow bandana around his head, a matching yellow cloth was tied around the second man's arm.

"alrught, you worthless green lizards, get your asses out her." The one in t the cowboy hat yelled roughly.

The thief made a small "eip" noise and made a move to dash off. Jak grabed him by the back of his long jacket and tugged him back to the ground.

"but they think were Leaper Children!" he lamented in high whining voice.

"maybe we can, you know, talk this out for once…. " Daxter s comented brightly from his usual perch. Two gun shots rickochetted over his head; exploding in spray fruit juices. "…..okay maybe not," he ducked behind Jak's head.

Jak ignored Dax and glanced around quickly, looking for Cacti. He groaned when he spotted her. being the leaper that she was and thus having a personlaty close to that of a certain gang leader, she was ignoring the situation and squeaking happily at the nearest water through.

The thick head and easily ofeneded gang members fired more shots and shouted more derogatory terms at them.

"When I say go, follow me." Jak half growled at the thief. He shook his head, with that same wide eyed expression.

The two tylo gang members started to approach the fruit stand, both holding their over sized blaster at the ready.

Jak looked over the fruit stand, swore, opened fire on the approaching gang members, and with out saying 'go' grabed the small theif's arm and ran toward his leaper. As he ran he turned back and took aim at the man in the cowboy hat and fired. The yellow blast connected with him somewhere on the chest and he fell backwards.

He reached the water trough and snatched up Catcti's reains. He pulled the ever cheerful animal away from the water and hurried down a side ally, still dragging the thief behind him.

He couldn't here the gun fire any more and the the small theif wrenched his hand away.

"thanks buddy but i can take care of my self!" the little brunette declared insolently.

"YEAH RIGHT, SQUIRT!" Daxter holered from his perch, "Who do you think you are anyway?"

"I'm Flyn Fantail," he said proudly, he ajusted his overly large red trench, "Member of the theif guild, so don't mess with me!"

"I'de be trembling but I've never heard of them," he remarked coyly while clasping his morph gun back to his back.

"Yeah kid, threats are only good if you can back them up." He said glaring arogantly down at the pompus theif.

The kid gave him an awed look, "The theif guild owns everything! The gangs don't even bother them! we're quick like kangarats!" He made a fast darting motion forward with his hand, "Our mark is every, you'de have to be blind or somthing!"

"Yeah, well go play or somthing." Daxter waved one gloved paw soveriegntly at him.

"I'm not lying, there the big red ones on the walls! Theres one for every member and one day i'll get to make one too!"

"wait, wait, wait," Daxter flailed his paws around, "Your not even a member are you?"

Flyn hung his head and stared guiltily at his boots, "why am i even talking to you!" he yelled with his full force of preteen angst. he turned and scampered down the allyway and disapeared arounfd the corner wiht the flutter of red fabric.

Jak, who had only stared evily at the child for most of the duration of the encuonter, groaned and hung his head, " Daxter I _hate _children."

"I think torn would find that one extremly tasty..."

Jak snorted, "remind me not to reproduce."

"no worries... I get all the ladies any way..."


	24. Jules

50 reviews! i love you guys! I love you I love you!

time pases about a day and half here cause i'm lazy and this story is getting on the longish side...i might break it inot two parts...just a thought.big shout out to WHITE WOLFZITA! CLEANING MAKES EVERYTHING ALL SHINNY AND NEW!

Get Your Freak On--- ch 23---

The desert sun shined in though a window as she scrubbed the floor. Jules whipped a strand of red hair out of her face and glanced around the kitchen from her seat on the floor. She sat there innocently in her pajamas as she admired her work. She could be a little compulsive at times, and cleaning up the scorch marks upstairs had started her on the warpath of an all mighty cleaning spree.

She didn't really like cleaning, but she had to admit that it did make every thing look all shinny and new.

She got up, lugged the last bucket of dirty water out onto the raised doorstep, and dumped it onto the street. A group of kangarats scampered over and began to greedily lap up the precious liquid.

She eagerly looked up and down the street for a familiar dark mop in vain. She hadn't seen Clue since the day before when he came to apologize. This was strange enough in its self.

She snorted and crossed her arms, "I bet he's off cheating on me with that cute blonde." She said to herself with a half grin. Her imagination had a weird way of thinking up the most extravagant things. She would have to tease him later.

Just then, a group of teenage boys began to wolf whistle at her on their way by. She put her hands on her hips and turned to glare at them.

"You can come wear my boxers anytime carrot top!"

She looked down at the green plaid boxers she wore. They were obviously too large to be hers. She looked back up at them for a moment and glared.

"Well if you actually had anything in yours I might be inclined!" She yelled as she pulled the boxers higher onto her hip. The group of boys exploded into a chorus of woops and laughs.

'Well its time to get dressed,' she thought sourly. She returned to her door stoop a while later fully clothed this time in short shorts and a green tank top. She strapped the odd hammer like weapon onto her back as she hoped down the stairs.

The absence of the second leaper was just another reminder that clue had yet to come back yet. He was always doing something, No that she minded that, He just never told her what that something was.

She began to saddle up the leaper, "he's such a horrible man Bo," she crooned to the leaper, "he comes back just long enough to make up and then he takes his gear and leaves again! One of these days…." She mumbled as she finished and mounted.

She headed down the street toward the seaside market. The trip was uneventful and filled with fruits and pervert merchants, nothing out of the ordinary for her.

It wasn't until the way back that this chapter really gets started. It was on her way back that she noticed a slightly familiar blonde man.

She rode over toward the wall he sat propped up against. She looked down at him from her perch on the leaper, he was sound asleep. His chin was slumped against his chest and an orange otsel was curled up in his lap, equally out like a light. There was something round and coppery clenched in his left fist.

'He looks as if he just raced some leaper monks, had a bad run in at the arena, got sent to battle metalpedes, had an unexpected visited from an old lady friend and chased around wild leapers.' She thought with a giggle. Her imagination could be rather eccentric. She would never know how right she had been. The two had had a long day and a half since their encounter with Flyn fanftial, the little theif.

She dismounted and gently nudged his foot with hers.

Jak bolted awake throwing Daxter and the object in his left hand away from him. He looked up at the short red head standing over him, and blinked a few times.

"Hey you…." She said in an unnervingly mischievous way.

He ran a hand over his face tiredly and rubbed his goatee, "what do you want?"

"You seen Clueless?" she asked as he pulled him self up and brushed off the sand.

"No…" he turned his neck to one side to get a kink out. Daxter had slowly come to consciousness, climbed onto Jak's shoulder guard, and yawned.

"He's at the marauder camp," the otsel said casually with another yawn.

Jules frown.

Jak raised an eyebrow; "you mean he hasn't come back yet?" he seemed a little more awake.

"Don't worry we have…._ friends _there," she didn't sound to pleased and bit concerned. She giggled a bit, "sorry bout the wake up call."

"Its. …Okay," he paused for second, looked over at his leaper and took cacti's reins.

They stood their for a moment in a silence that was starting to get it a little awkward, especially after what Dax had had to say about her better half at the temple. And well she was acting sane, which was strange anyways.

"Well we'll be seeing you round… I guess." Dax said giving Jak an odd look.

"Yeah…" he said hesitantly.

"Wait!" she shouted at him before he could mount. She b-lined to a shiny sparkle in the sand like a magpie to a polished spoon. Her leaper squealed in delight as she dragged it along behind her. She bent over, scooped it up, and examined it.

"This yours?" she asked examining the small round seal. She flipped it over and back letting the sun catch its coppery surface.

" Oh…yeah!" he said jogging the few steps to her, "that's mine." He sounded like he was inwardly calling himself an idiot. He reached out for it but she pulled it away. He glared at her as she rubbed her fingers over it thoughtfully

"I've seen this symbol before," she said almost to herself, she ran her finger down along the dividing part of the ying yang on the seal.

"Can I have it back?" he growled agitatedly.

"Oh yeah, sure…sorry" she said quickly, tossing it to him absent-mindedly. Jak caught it deftly and pocketed it.

"So where have you seen that design before sweet cheeks?" Daxter asked, anything with mar's seal was usually helpful…. usually. And as the otsel thought more about it, precursor stuff was valuable in Spargus.

Jules taped her fingers to her temples a bit frantically; ignoring the fact that Dax had called her sweet cheeks, "oh I know!" she snapped her fingers and turned to him, "in the precursor temple! I went there once and there was this door and…um…I forget now but no ones been through it in over five hundred years!" she was starting to get excited then. "Imagine the technology that could be behind it, bet it would make haven look like child's play! You ever been to the temple? Its full of such amazing things it just so amazing!"

Daxter and Jak gave each other a look. Some how this didn't seem good.

"I bet you anything that this thing's a key or something, did you look at the notches in the back!" she looked at him with her big green puppy dog eyes.

Jak groaned, he knew what she was about to ask.

"No." he said firmly.

"Pleeeeeease! I'm sure I could sweet talk Kleiver into letting us burrow a vehicle!"

"Listen sister, we don't need you to sweet talk Kleiver, Jak's got his own wheels now. And its got kickin' hydraulics on it. So you can just forget the whole idea!"

Jak ran a hand over his face again in an exasperated way.

"You have a dune hoper! That's great!" she squealed. She grabbed him by a strap for his light armor and gun and began to drag him and her leaper off toward Kleivers garage. Cacti brought up the rear of the odd procession.

"Come on Jak your twice her size!" Daxter said a bit dementedly, "You always let women walk all over you!"

Jak glared at him, "this is you fault." He growled at his friend.

"You know I can hear you," she said while still dragging him, despite the fact that he was walking complacently behind her now. "And he's really kind of short."

Jak glared at the back of her red head, he snorted, and he was still a half a head taller than her and that all that counted.

"Well," Jak ventured, "at least I'm not crazy like you."

"That's negotiable," Daxter piped in, getting the last word as usual.


	25. the temple of doom

THIS CHAPTER IS 13 PAGES OH MY GOOD GODS!

good gods, there have been so many things preventing this chapter it is not even funny. my pc crashed, writers block, helping my parental units build house and harry potter. so busy. i assume by now the harry Potter world is attempting to bite its own head off. so here it is. enjoy. the next chapter is all about Clue fyi O.o and thanks to eruka this has been spell checked but not grammer checked so capitalization may be wonky.

Ineed a betta reader Oh lamentations!

review replies:

People are taller in the futur! and the next xhapter is all clue!

READ IF YOU WANT REVIEW IF YOU DO!

--Get Your Freak On--25--

"Jules," Jak leaned his head on the door to the dune hoper, "your not driving."

"yeah sweet cheeks ," Daxter said climbing in the vehicle and across the dash, "you dragged him here, the least you could do is let the guy drive, plus he gets all pissy when he doesn't."

Jules pouted, gave a breathy sigh and scooted over to the other seat, "at least tell me you know where the temple is."

Jak nodded, he wondered how he always got roped into these kinds of things. he turned the key and put the vehicle into gear. the engine rumbled to life and he maneuvered it to the front of the mechanical gate. like most of the other vehicle's he had encountered this one lacked a windshield, so he pulled his goggles down onto his face then gave a questioning look at Jules from behind the sheltering lenses.

she was rummaging in her pockets and pulled out the large round rimed goggles he had seen her with once before. the goggles where far to big for her face and absurdly round, she gave him a full hearted grin.

"Mental disorders," Dax whispered discreetly taking his place on Jak's shoulder

"Make life interesting?" Jak whispered back surprising himself a bit with his own optimism.

"We gonna go or we just gonna sit here?" she asked him naggingly.

Jak didn't answer but revved the engine and drove toward the automatic doors and into the desert. the sun had yet to come out in full force yet and the dunes spread out like mustard waves as far as he could see.

"Hey?" Jules asked after the silence of the ride started to get to her, "why are you out _here _anyway? I mean in Spargus, i thought you were a big smoke boy?"

"I ah, wasn't to popular," He said with a smirk.

Jules laughed, "They kicked you out? well, i got kicked out once, it's not fun." she was quiet for a while and adjusted her baggy yellow hat. Again Jak wondered how she crammed her ears in there.

Jak maneuvered over a larger dune and the heavy duty hydrolics of the Dune Hopper baulked with the slight impact. Jules sighed.

"Hey," its was Daxter's turn to need conversation, "speaking of which what were you and Clue doing in Haven, you know back about a year ago?"

"Oh! I was making him look for power cells and something else."

"what for sweet cheeks?"

She manuvered the long hammer like mechanism from her back, "For this baby! don't call me sweet cheeks rat boy..." the hammer had the distinct style of something homemade and constructed from precursor scraps. it had a short handle and had two small round hammer heads on it. Daxter remembered that the hammer heads could get bigger.

Jak shot her a glance, "how did you get into the city," he sounded nearly hopefull and more than a bit curious.

"TURN LEFT!" she shouted at him, Jak snapped his attention back to the road, erm... desert and took the sharp left between the two rock outcroppings.

"And he says he wants to drive," she muttered to her self. she took a deep breath and forced herself to enjoy the ride. She sighed and scolded herself, she had nearly forgotten what it was like to drive through the desert. she hadn't had sand in hair like this in long while.

"Jules?" Jak said suddenly snapping out of some kind of desert induced driving trance, "how did you know my name back then?"

"yeah chikorita, that was creepy..." Dax added moving to the woman's shoulder.

"Clue told me," she said simply. she took in the otsel's unconvinced look, she stared back with her googled eyed goggles, "well you both know Sigy right?"

Jak nodded. At least somethings was starting to make sense.

"Oh boy! do we know Sig!" Daxter cried out referring to the arena incident. Jules giggled at the small creature and scratched him behind the ear.

"lower...and a little to the left toots... I can call you toots?" Jak rolled his eyes and ignore them.

the way they had come had steered them completely clear of the marauder camp, and the small island chain that led out to the temple was now in site.

"hey how come there were no monks in there last time we went?" Daxter questioned leaping to the dash board after his ear had been thoroughly scratched.

"the temple is sacred, the monks only go there on special occasions. they fear the Precoursors will smite them or something if they're disrespectful and stuff." She said enlightening them.

"so they just leave it empty?" Jak asked, "Cause there were metal heads in there when we went with Clue."

"Wait you got him to go into the temple?" She sounded slightly amazed.

"More like he got us to go!" Daxter told her.

"Meh, hes a weird kid." was all the alchemist had to say for herself.

Jak let the little conversation wash away as he examined the hydrolics system again, Kleiver had given him the crash course but there hadn't been any actual gaps involved. he rolled up to the first island slowly.

he carefully lined the vehicle up for the jump, he prepped the hydrolics and felt the whole frame of the vehicle begin to shake. he hit the acceleration and drove straight for the drop off, with the quick switch of a lever the car launched its self into the air.

"HOOOOOOLLLLLYYYYY SHIIIIIIIIT!" Daxter plastered himself to Jak's head.

Jak clenched the steering wheel as the vertigo feeling rushed into his stomach followed quickly by a surge of panic as the ground came rushing back to meet them.

the cockpit bounced violently on its suspension with impact , rattling around its passengers like a couple of rag dolls.

Jak exhaled, released the steering wheel and the break and peeled Daxter off the side of his head, "well, that was fun... lets do it again," the words flowed out of his mouth in a malevolent way. he looked over at Jules through his tinted goggles. She had both hands braced against the dash board and looked like she was about ready to have a heart attack.

Daxter had composed himself now and looked over at the shocked alchemist, "you gonna make it champ?" he hopped over to her shoulder.

Jules visibly relaxed a bit and took a shaky breath and gave a little grin, "I forgot how...how... unsettling this thing is."

"well Chikorita, you picked the wrong guy to drive," he said taking a seat on her shoulder. Jak was already was already lining up for the next jump, "when you ride with Jak, you ride with death."

the female wast lander quirked an eyebrow,"really now?" the otsel nodded confidently. "you've obviously have never been in a gun turet while Clue was driving."

"No, and I hope I never am!"

"You guys wanna shut up." Jak growled at them. the next jump would be tricky, the next island was higher up than one they were on and he didn't much care for the looks of it. the islands they had crossed by leaper had been much milder. Jules followed his line of sight and bite her lip at the sight of it.

with out another word he backed the vehicle up a few feet then threw his passengers against their seats as he raced toward the impending gap. yet again the dune buggy launched itself into the sky.

Jules clenched her eyes shut and Daxter hung to her hat. Jak felt the the suspension bounce and the whole vehicle slipped backwards slightly.

Jules opened her eyes with a bit of nervous laughter. Jak shot her a look and the laughter died. the cockpit was leaning backwards in an unfamiliar manner.

"Don't move," he said flatly, he couldn't see but she blinked in confusion behind her dark lenses. he slowly reached one hand out the side of the cockpit and carefully adjusted the mirror there.

the back end sudenly came into view. The two back wheels dangled precarious over the gap. the ocean waves crashed hungrily below them.

"Oh fuck."

"Jak! We're dangling!" Dax yelled a bit hysterical looking over Jules' shoulder toward the rest of the vehicle.

"Oh gods!" Jules mumbled.

Jak wrenched the steering wheel to the left, at least that would make it difficult to slip backwards into the surf. He pressed the gas peddle lightly at first, the wheels lurched forward slowly. the back wheels hit the lip of the drop off and spun a few agonizing times then grappled their way up and securely onto the small island.

"any one else need a new change of pants?" an otsel that shall not be named asked.

Jules lifted off her goggles and let the m rest on her forehead, "you don't have any pants."

"yeah well thats all his fault..." Daxter led off into mumbling about pants were wonderful garments that always seemed to lift and cradle.

Jules blinked her big doe eyes and suddenly glared at him, "Wanna not get me killed!"

he gave her a dirty look out of the corner of his eye, "your riding with death remember..."

she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, feeling very out of her element. the next few jumps were child's play and consisted of relatively level islands with consistently better landings than the previous.

the dune hopper was officially Jak's new favorite toy, and felt confident as he manipulated the hydrolics to leap over where the waterfall had washed out the road. The hydrolic jumping contraption landed with a solid bounce on the other side and fish-tailed to a stop.

Jules was first out and examined the deserted desert temple. the large metallic doors where wide open and instilled a strange sense of awe in her. the size of them themselves was amazing, though to her disappointment they seemed smaller. That always seemed to be the price off growing up. she hadn't been there since she was young, but she adamantly remembered the brass colored ying yang door.

(Authors note: I skipped the volcano mission, and the part with veeger and the robot I should be shot so things are going to go a bit differently here. I try hard.)

Jak strolled up beside her with his characteristically confident stride, he stood beside while she stared up at the behemoth doors.

"Spargus to Jules, any one home?" Dax called from his usual perch. She blinked her self out of thought and looked at the two.

"Ladies first," Jak said giving a cynical half bow.

she glared at him, but somehow still manged to look cute and innocent.

"Well then," was all she had to say as she strode into the large open ceiling lobby of the temple.

"what the hell is that?" Daxter pointed towards a rather queer thing hovering in front of the door to the left.

"Whoa, creepy," Jules exclaimed with a hint of curiosity, "What is it?"

Jak shrugged in that unconcerned way of his and began to strut the distance between him and the disembodied eye. it sat poised above the large door, its dark slitted pupil eyeing him as he approached.

he stopped. _Kashink. _Jakk blinked at the large metal spike that had launched itself in front of his face. he took a small step away and looked up at the unblinking astral eye and the small garden of spikes.

"Thats just great!" Dax shouted in his over dramticaly way, "We don't really have to go this way do we toots?"

Jules nodded her head firmly

"Great." the blond echoed looking up at the eye again.

"well," she chirped, "its gotta have an off switch somewhere!"

Jak didn't seem to keen to her optimism as he started his investigation of the round courtyard. Jules wasn't really being that helpful and the whole expedition was starting to seem like a complete waste of time.

Jules took another step to the left and watched the eye intently follow her, she pointed, "What you looking at?"

Jak looked over his shoulder at her but Daxter beat him to the line, "What the hell are you doing?"

Jules shrugged. "Just keeping myself entertain?" Jak just rolled his eyes.

"Glad your enjoying yourself..." His voice dripped sourly with sarcasm but the alchemist seemed not to notice.

Jak continued snooping about, something in the room wanted his attention. he could feel it.

it wasn't long till he found him self walking towards the far wall, toward a small neat niche in the wall.

"OOH what do ya think this is?" Daxter jumped off his shoulder and onto the niche next to the black canister artifact.

he felt the tell tale cold crackling at the base of his neck, "don't touch it!" Daxter stopped in mid-poke and looked at him. "Its some kind dark eco...thing." he explained lamely, "Who knows what else the stuff might do to you."

Daxter stood in the niche and put his furry little paws on his hips and looked at his faithful sidekick indignantly.

"Could it really get any worse?"

Jak felt compelled some where halfway between amusement and guilt. he shrugged at him.

"I don't even have PANTS! so you know what! I'm gonna poke it any way!" Daxter waved his gloved paws about crazily.

Jak just looked at him, "You do know the pants thing can only get you so much sympathy before it gets old, right?"

Daxtter pointed at him for a few moments. Jak snickered quietly at him, his furry mug was quite priceless. The otsel was at a lack of words or any kind of witty defense, then finally,"I'm poking it!" he yelled like some naughty toddler, making a made lunge at the evil looking artifact.

with out thinking to much he snatched the artifact away in the same childish spirit that the whole argument had escalated into. as soon as his hands clapped onto the oddly shaped squarish device a cold oily shiver seemed to run up the length of his arms and down his body and back again.

he gasped and stumbled back at the strange sensation but managed to hang on to the device. he looked down at the device in his hands, it hadn't burned or hurt in anyway at all, which surprised him greatly.

Dax had landed hard in the middle of the niche were the artifact had been not moments before, "Jak?" he said looking around as he stood up, "JAK! HEY JAK! Where the HELL did you GO! I only wanted to look at it!" he yelled looking over towards Jules who was entertaining herself by dancing about and watching the luminus white eye follow her every move.

Jak cocked his head and bent in front of his friend, "Hello?" he waved his hand back and forth slowly as Daxter hollered over to Jules and pried her attention away from the eye and onto the current problem.

Jak felt a tinge of panic as Jules nearly walked into him. he looked down at the artifact in his hands again and decided it was most likely a smart idea to put it back. as he placed it in the niche it crackled with a purple spark for a moment and then sat quietly in its niche.

Daxter had just nimbly leaped to Jules shoulder loudly proclaiming the posibilities that could have happened and making himself paranoid.

"Eh!" Jules jumped slightly as the artifact rematerialized with a loud electrical pop.

"Okay but where's the Blondy?" she leaned in close to the artifact till her nose was less than half an inch from it.

Daxter smacked the side of her yellow floppy hat, "Don't touch it..."

Jak heaved a sigh that fell on deft ears, he was feeling rather stupid after his last bought of arm waving, and in truth was quiet glad than neither of them actually saw him. He had thought of perhaps pushing one of them, but remembering the artifact worked on dark eco, had thought better of it. He had been rather confident that putting down the artifact would make him visible. even the foreboding luminous eye didn't not set itself on him as he approached muttering angrily.

the looked far past him at the two inspecting the artifact, Dax was standing besides it again calling loudly, "Jak, buddy? you in there?"

Jules gave him a funny look, "I really don't think he could fit in there you stupid fur ball. maybe it took him some where..." she stuck out a hand hesitantly.

meanwhile back to the invisible Jak, his arms were crossed as he stared up at the eye. he waved an arm experimentally, back and forth, then giving it the finger. the eye expressionlessly stared past him. he stopped in front of the large holes in the floor where the spikes had popped up before, and when they failed to attempt to skewer him as he approach he quickly darted across the holes. as he came up underneath the strange device he felt the less familiar yet unmistakable feeling of white eco beseeched him. and the same time the cold tingling shiver assaulted his body followed by a loud crackling hiss.

the hiss was suddenly punctuated with a scream.

Jak suddenly sat down hard, feeling light headed and drained as if he had just been knocked senseless. he shook his head and blinked, looking out across the round circular temple space. Jules stood bent over cradling her left hand against her chest. "Hey you okay!' Daxter hopped down from the niche and stood in front of her as she gasped in a few strangled breaths.

Jak scrambled to his feet and dashed over the spike holes with out a thought. If his dark cloaking device hadn't short circuited the light eco power sentinel then things would have happened tragically different.

Dax noticed him as he ran toward them, "The HELL?" it seemed to sum up both events rather well.

"You touched it." he said almost bitterly as he came to stop next to her.

She bit her lip and nodded as the cold numbness that had spread from the small burn on the back of her hand slowly turned to pins and needles over shadowed by a sharp ache.

"lem'me see it."he ordered more than asked.

Jules didn't bother to argue or question how he had suddenly appeared and carefully held out her hand with only the small complaint of, "Don't touch it."

the burn on the back of her hand was small and red, surrounded by large purple and blue bruise that was quickly staring to turn a sickly yellow. He could feel the small amount of the dark substance coursing through her, the dose he decided wasn't enough to her much harm accept hurt like a bastard. there was nothing they could really do for the wound, bandaging would only make it hurt worse.

"Well we ought to head back..." the blond said tilting his head toward the large doors, open to the desert.

Jules bit her lip, the pins and needles in her hand suddenly grew to knives and daggers. why did she always have to do such terribly stupid things all the time, she thought harshly. at least it wasn't spreading and the terrible aching numbness stayed isolated in her hand, there was nothing worse than full blown eco poisoning.

she was quiet for a moment, "I dragged you out here damnit, and I'm damn well not going back till I'm damn well satisfied on whats on the other side of that damn door," she said stubbornly.

Jak gave her a doubting look, his ice blue eye attempting to bring her to submission.

"I've had worse," she said honestly trying to ignore her hand, which was a task in a half.

"Fine," he said after a moment, "its you misery, not mine."

"Hey...Jak?" Daxter said making himself heard from the floor, "Ah...what happened to you?"

"Yeah, why didn't that thing try to bite _your_ hand off?" she gave the artifact a sour look.

"magic.." he said flatly.

"Hey!" Jules pointed a finger at him with her good hand, "Don't try and pull that one, thats what Clue always says!"

Jak shrugged and continued his explanation not really feeling like expanding on his _'magic' _at the moment, "its some kind of invisibility device. i even managed to short circuit that thing." he through his thumb in the general direction of the door. Daxter scampered up to his traditional perch for a better view as Jules began hopping up and down, still cradling her hand awkwardly against her.

"Sweet! you rock Blondy boy!" she chirped happily despite the biting pains in her hand. Jak shook his head as she started walking off toward the now trap free door, she turned back towards them, taking a few backwards steps, "You boys coming?"

Jak followed a bit relieved that they hadn't drove all the way out there for nothing, and a bit surprised at Jules good mood under the circumstances.

"she's crazy." Daxter said sounding more convinced than ever, "Her head must be numb for her to be that chirpy."

Jak snorted, "Your calling her numb? she not the one who thought that i was in the artifact."

"Erm...you saw that?"

Jak nodded and suppressed a snicker as he passed though the door way into a dark narrow stair well. he could just make out Jules's yellow hat bouncing down in front of him.

"Well, weirder things have happened before." the Otsel said flatly defending his stupidity.

Jak just shook his head, and ran into the back of Jules when she suddenly stopped at the bottom of the long set of stairs.

as he hit her he himself was hit with a wave of crackling shivers for the second time that day. there must be a whole pull of the dark stuff in the next room, he thought dismally.

Jules held her self ridged, part from fear and part from awe, she scooted over on her bottom step. Jak joined her looking out into the small round room.

Carved precursors lined the walls, staring uncaring at the large flowing vent that had made their temple its home. half gassius half liquid the substance rolled and bubbled up from the floor into a dazzling plume of shifting darkness. The vent flowed and ebbed in a mesmerizing pasterns of of iredecent obsidian with flashing shifting shades of violet and purple.

Jak took an involuntary step forward.

Jules grabbed his arm, "What are you doing?" she whispered loudly.

Jak snapped his attention back from the flowing mass of dark eco and looked at her, "why are you whispering?"

she dropped his arm roughly, "I don't know, maybe cause that's damn creepy," she pointed at the accused substance.

Jak shrugged and took another step toward it, some how he just couldn't help himself.

"hey..aaah... that doesn't look very healthy, buddy. not even for you." Daxter said near his ear sounding more than a bit nervous.

Dax took Jak's silence as a queue and hoped onto Jules's shoulder.

Jak found himself inches away from the dark plume. He stood transfixed, the swirling darkness encompassed his vision. he could feel it. both hot and cold some how at once. He shut his eyes tight. But still he could sense it, a slick flowing inky feeling that softly called him. he opened his eyes, intrigued, this was not the eco he knew so well. Dark eco had always shouted at his senses, demanded his attention, and he had always answered, like an addict to bad drug.

so what is different now? he thought slowly. All thought of the young woman behind him the steps, Daxter and even the reason for him standing in front of the vent was forgotten.

he bit his lip in anticipation as his finger tips floated bravely before the eco. He plunged his hand in quickly, expecting the burning, numbing sensation that always accompanied his dark addiction. he blinked slowly, he could faintly see the dark outline of his fingers in the vent. he wiggled them, felling the rushing inky substance flow through them. It crackled and flowed over his hand as if looking for entry. he flexed his hand inside its depths, it felt like flowing pins and needles only less painful and more annoying.

this is different. he thought, thinking more in feeling than in word.

He opened himself to the dark force greedily. Now that the eco had offered itself up to be taken rather than forced itself painfully into him, he felt somehow victorious. Power.

he felt it stream through him, the slight pain of it overridden by the feeling of satisfaction he had. He let it trickle into him till he thought he would burst, and then instead of attempting to over fill him, the dark substance relented.

he pulled his hand away quickly, and stood back. He inhaled, he hadn't realized he had been holding his breath.

"Jak?" he turned and blinked, it was Jules. She rose from her perch on the steps, "are you alright?" she asked doubtfully.

Jak blinked again in an almost innocent manner and a dark spark danced across his palm and settled with in him. this seemed to prompt Jules forward, she snatched up his hand with her good one.

"what the hell did you think you were doing?" his hand was fine save for the odd scar here and there, "how the hell did you manage that? that's not natural."

she held her burned hand insecurely and looked up at him, "I told you not to worry toots, your alright, right buddy?"

Jak grinned at the otsel on his shoulder, "why wouldn't I be?"

"See sweet cheeks, I told you not to worry."

"wait just one minute! just how did you manage that! your not even burned. you scared the shit out of me! You stood there and stared at the damned vent for over five minutes, and you wouldn't even answer us!" she glared up at him, his over confident smirk irking her more than his odd behavior.

"sorry," he said unconvincingly with a shrug. Daxter was grinning at her frustration.

"sorry my ass!" she pointed at him accusingly and accidentally jostled her burnt hand. she winced then added, "who the hell did you do that any way, its just not fair!"

Jak snorted, it wasn't. he waved his hand in front of her face and wiggled his fingers, "Magic."

she cocked her head at him and looked at him meaningfully as if she just realized something she should have before. Jak blinked back, he didn't think he had said anything meaningful, he was just being a smart ass to piss her off.

she sighed and slouched her shoulders forward as she cradled her hand, "still isn't fair." she mumbled to herself ruefully.

"Well come on! Let find this stupid door of yours and get out of this dump." Dax urged them.

Jules needed no second bidding to leave the plume of dark eco behind and bolted through the door way into a corridor. Jak followed at a more subdued pace and cast one last look over his shoulder at the vent, grinning wickedly.

this would have been the end of this chapter, but alas, Jules began screaming shrilly about spiders. Jak hurried to catch up with her.

"Gross! Disgusting! Arachnoid! Bastards! I!...Hate!..Spiders!" each exclamation was punctuated with the sound of a black and red spiders splatting against the female waste lander's hammer. The arachnoid plague rushed down the corridor and swarmed about her ankles. she wielded her hammer one handedly like a mad golfer with eight legged balls.

Jak whipped out his morph gun and quickly contorted it into his blaster and began picking off spiders further down the passageway.

"Guess she doesn't like spiders,"Jak heard in his ear. even though the otsel had merely stated the obvious he couldn't help but chuckle. Despite her disgusted complaints she seemed to be faring well and proving to be a bane to all things aracnid in nature.

Jak continued picking off the hissing insects, trying his best to ignore Jules's hysteric war cries. Jules kicked a spider angrily, its plaintive hiss was ended abruptly by a wall. she looked about fervently for another victim. she found the vile creatures being held at bay further down the hallway by Jak's shooting.

He sidestep towards her still firing rapidly, "Stay behind me." he said warningly as he flipped the gun around in his hands.

"wait, pull this!" Jules exclaimed suddenly, pushing the shaft of the hammer at him. there was a pump action handle on it much like the one on his scatter gun for reloading. he appeased her and pulled down on it, it clicked into place instead of popping back up like the scatter gun's did. she grinned as the contraption emitted a whirring sound and the maillot head suddenly twisted around, some how making the flat of both sides of the hammer expand.

"Lead away Blondie!" she yelled over the mad clicking of spider legs

_'Bam' _the next way of spiders trying to cram themselves through the temples doorway found their broken bodies being propelled fang over spinneret to their doom.

_'Bam! kachink bam! kachink bam! kachink'_ he continued firing and reloading at the beasts for what seemed longer than his patients was willing to allow. Jules picked off on of the more clever spiders that had run along the wall toward them, the ill fated creature was crushed with a sickening crunch. th e other spiders seemed to tack the new stragety to heart and there were quickly as many arachnids on the floor as the walls. Jules did her best to scamper between both walls slaying eight legged annoyances left right and center, dispite the wound hand she still coddled awkwardly against her chest.

"How many of these f-" _Bam_ "-ers are there Jak!"

"No idea!" Jak yelled then fired again.

"Shut ups fur ball! you are do not helping!" Jules smashed two unlucky spiders at once, "these things are some god damn annoying bastards."

"Hey! Hey!" Daxter stood up on Jaks shoulder like a meercat, "There no more coming from the door!"

"Thank gods." she said stopping and panting, all that running back and forth between walls had been tiresome. the spiders seemed to have given up the wall idea and seemed to be making a final rush with what small numbers they had left. Jak fired and grinned all that remind of the original arachnoid plague was a small handful just out of range.

Jules kicked a twitching body of a spider absently.

_Kachink click...click...click..._

"THATS SO NOT COOL!" Daxter erupted from his shoulder perch.

Jules popped up beside him as he stared disappointedly at his gun, "well they're more annoying than harmful. we could you know just run past them... kick a few maybe?"

Jak looked down the hall at the swiftly approaching web spinners as they clambered over their twitching and crumpled comrades that littered the floor. Jak took off toward the door way without another word, Jules wasn't far behind.

thus began a mad leaping and cursing journey down the hallway. involving much to Jak's sadistic glee the stepping and kicking of many a spider attempting to latch its over sized pincer around his ankles. Jules on the other hand was not particularly enjoying the sensation of squishy spider exoskeleton under foot. she looked as though she had invented some kind of new trans dance as she hopped madly about trying to step in places where the bodies of spiders did not already occupied the space.

Jule caught up with Jak quickly and suddenly found her self smacking into his back "Come on! go! go!" she said pliantivly, dancing a jig behind him.

Jak took the liberty of smashing in the head of a spider that had scuttled up the door frame and bolt through, with Jules Pushing him from behind for good measures.

"look! look thats the door!" she shouted.

"Hey toots we don't even know if this thing will even open!" Dax yelled down at her while she pushed against Jak's back. the ran into a high ceiling room with a large precursor statue looming out of a seemingly bottom less pit. The spiders didn't seem to keen to pursue, lacking the numbers for any hope of a kill.

"You can stop that now," Jak said over his shoulder, trying his best to drag his heels as she pushed him. she looked over her own shoulder at the disbanding arachnids, and reluctantly stopped pushing him.

"You said you could do this!" a loud nasally voice echoed over the room.

Jules looked about like a startled puppy, Jak grabbed her and threw her behind one of the many Pillars lining the sides of the ledge. She Pushed him away angrily and opened her mouth to complain, but Jak clapped a hand over it and and just as frustrated, made the signal to be quiet.

"Yes but, You've seen the whats in the sky, you know what it brings!" Jak peeked around the pillar and recognized the soft husky voice of Seem before he saw her.

"YES, and soon this world's fate will be decided, and I, We need access to the catacombs! and with the technology there I can obliterate the darkness from this world and only glorious light will remain! You and your monks said you could do this, I expect nothing less!" th pompous naive waved about a long scepter and the door in front of him whirled to life and opened for his exit.

"of course," the small framed monk said to his back with a slight bow, she walked off through another door still holding her self proudly. Jak released Jules and came out from behind the pillar.

"what's so important about the catacombs?" he asked no one in particular, looking deep in thought. Daxter shrugged.

"how the hell should i know...who was that any way?" she question as she experimentally flexed her burnt hand. she winced and looked at him for an answer.

"Veegar..." he answered bitterly

"And Monk Boy Seem!" Daxter chimed in happily, not forgetting the coloring book faced monk.

"So what are the catacombs?" she looked around the room, taking in the architecture, the pillar's, the statue and the mind throttling drop. she wasn't really that interested in what the answer might be.

"We don't know." Jak said nearly as biter.

"thats interesting..." she was still marveling at her surroundings.

Daxter groaned, "Come on you stop pay attention way now?"

"Um?" she looked around. There was a door going both left and right from where they entered, "That way!" she said confidently.

Low and behold through the door was another medium sized round room, a large bronze door stood at the opposite end.

"Told ya." she pranced as cockily as one could with an injured arm.

"Quick lets ditch her!" Dax whispered desperately into his sidekick's ear.

Jak just shook his head, "then she'd stalk us for the rest of our lives..." Jak took pleasure in his companion's face as he strolled over to the door.

"Sooo..." the three were standing in front of the door now, "what do you think is back there?" Jak asked as he fumbled around in his pockets for the seal.

the alchemist shrugged. Jak pulled out the seal and placed it the conveniently shaped indent in the middle of the matching door, it turned with a click and fell out again. the door clanked and rolled into the wall leaving a round door way and another set of stairs leading down.

"Well we found a set of stairs... lets go home." Daxter said making to point back the way they had come from. Both Jak and Jules shot him a look, "fine, lets go down the spooky stair then!" he said ruefully.

"Aye Aye! Lead away captain!" She pushed Jak and the reluctant otsel onto the steps. and in her excitement kept both hands pushing impatiently against his back and the gadgets slung on it. and in this manner they descended into the dark of the temple's depths.

"Will YOU STOP THAT!" he shouted angrily.

"well then go faster!" She shouted back, "Why d omen always have to take there sweet time!"

"Well I'd have you know sweet chee-"

"DON"T call me SWEET CHEEKS!"

Jak was still being pushed down the steps unnecessarily, whatever is down here better be worth it he thought aggravated.


	26. teen gods on sugar

Sorry for the delay...but no one is reading this any more anyway...no reviews. But what ever...i promised myself i would finish it and i will. I just had a friend of mine die in an accident...and i'nm writing purly to take my mind off so the quality may vary. This is a chapter I've been looking forward to for a long time. It has one of my friend fire cat's characters in it . so onward i go. Read if you want...review if ya feel like it. It would be apreciated. And to top it all off a planed character in this story was to be based off the friend that died...so i might have to stop writing anyway...or change the plot around i don't think i would be able to do it.

:Jules, Eruka and Flame look up from their tea party and they glare evily :

that means review or else...or maybe they just don't want you to eat their danishes... looks at her mission list wow...Yay! We are almost out of act one!... -.-;;

---Get your freak on---ch: 26 or so.

Clue sat morosely in the sands of the churning desert, the wind whipping sand about his ankles playfully. He had sat there all night, arms wrapped about his legs, staring off into the horizon. The sun had risen hours ago, and had yet to reach its zenith. Occasionally he would chance a look at the leaper to his left and the long narrow box strapped to it back.

The leaper had since dug into the sand, sounding its self in a nest of it and with every glance the lizard would raise its dull blue head and chirp. And all through the night he had spent sulking he had turned away from the disappointed leaper to stare back into space and think.

To him it seemed as if some parts of his life could simply not connect to the others, and any intrusion of one part to another was distressful him. the precursor muddling around in his mind had not helped, and he could not help but to continue to dredge up better left forgotten memories.

"the past is dead," he had muttered to himself more than once as the night had progressed. But with the rising of the sun, so came the day star, and more pertinent worries came to mind.

Suddenly he swore bitterly . He hadn't realized the amount of time it had taken to compose himself. He looked down bitterly at his exposed hands. They glistened with a dull luster in the bright sun. cascading across ed his entire hand was what could be best described as a closely knit diamond shaped scaled pattern. But the flesh was more smooth and sensitive than hard and armor like, for the skin on his hands was no less sensitive than the rest.

He cracked his knuckles loudly with an angry snort, "this is wonderful, absolutely so fucking wonderful." venom soaked every word as he pulled himself to his feet, looking pointedly at the day star. His knees popped in protest as he extended them fully and made his way to the now hyperactively excited leaper.

"I wasn't talking to you now calm the hell down." he mumbled at the poor creature sourly. He grabbed the reins more harshly than had been necessary and the lizard gave a small protest. Its only response from clue was to lead away from the sulking place at the top of the dune.

The long trek back to the city could be summed up, from the leapers point of view as boring. And try as Clue might he could not keep the naïve animals attention. The creature was never at a lost to find things more interesting than the strange wastelander leading him home. Even the odd cacti, rock, kanga rat or whisps of sand would grab its small attention. Clue was at his witt's ends with the leaper and was seriously considering to murder it or at least just leave it there in the desert.

"Come here you! Stop that! Pay attention!" he yelled viscously, tugging hard on the reins again. The lizard leaper squealed in distress pulling away from him more.

"your a stupid bastard aren't you..." he crooned to it after getting it under control again. He continued to croon insults to it as he mounted it. The species as a whole annoyed him. And after what felt like an unnaturally long trip , the high walls of Spargus came into view. Reluctantly he trotted the leaper towards the largest door visible along its wall: Kleaver's.

The large mechanical door clanked open for him loudly and he brought him and his mount into the garage.

He was in the middle of dismounting when a voice addressed him from across the garage, " if it ain't me favorite freak of a wastelander," Kleaver's voice drawled out cynically, "oh and look ya brought yer mum home too."

Clue just stood there next to his leaper, giving the pompous garage owner a rather frightening look.

Kleaver just snorted at him, "well it ain't my fault that it looks like your whore of a mum did a leaper."

Clue's face went from frightening to rather calm. He clasped his afore insulted hands behind his back and strode purposely towards the fat wastelander.

"I'm really not in the mood for this," he said softly and almost casually as he stopped in front of Kleaver.

Kleaver harrumphed at him, "really now? Well you should be thankful i even let ya use me garage at all!" he proclaimed seemingly unaware of the intension's of the man in front of him, as if some how his calm nature had meant some sort of submission.

Then suddenly before Kleaver had anytime to elaborate or even flinch, Clue had a hold of his yellow slug of a mustache on each side.

_Wham! _Clue whacked his skull against the man's in his grasp.

Kleaver stumbled backwards into the hood of a dune buggy with a yowl. By the time he had looked up from clutching his head, Clue was already leading the leaper out the door and into the street.

Clue hitched up his leaper next to the pale green one already there. He unhitched the box on its back and heaved it over his shoulder and started down the street, more glad to be rid of the leaper than one could probably imagine.

As he progressed down the street, he made a point to look at his feet. In all honesty he felt like he was a kid again, mostly because of the lingering insecurities he was having at the moment. If he had the sense at the time to look up from his feet, he would have seen that no one on the street was paying him any attention at all.

It was in this manner that he arrived at his house. It took a bit of self control on his part not to dash up the steps and slam the door behind. When he did shut the door behind him he locked it.

Clue let the box fall heavily onto the kitchen table with a clatter, "Jules?" he shouted towards the other room.

No answer.

He poked his head up into the her lab only to find it empty, he slid back down the ladder half relieved and half upset at her absence.

So he stood there in the sitting room below the lab, just stood there for a good long minute. With his next course of action chosen he began rummaging around in his pockets of his duster.

Eventually, after pulling out a couple packs of cigarettes he hadn't known existed, he pulled out his communicator. With a speed that was probably unnecessary he dialed in a number with on cobalt colored digit.

"Jules?" he asked the communicator in his hand, "where the hell are you?"

"_in the temple...I think-" _

"_ARKK! I've been waiting, and I'm not getting any older!"_

"_oh my... Jak is that a talking monkey?"_

Clue made a what-the-hell face and blinked at the device in his hands, "Okaaaaay... but what are you do there?"

"_oh! You weren't home yet so i went out and found that blond guy-" _Clue could hear Jak's voice in the background but not the words_ "Yes i know what your name is shut up! Anyway he has one of those little seal thingies like-"_

"so you took him to the door at the temple..."

"_um yeah? How'd you guess?"_ Clue groaned and took a seat on the infamously uncomfortable couch. He could still hear voices in the background over the com.

"_You worry to much...what have i told you about worrying about me. Its a stupid pass time because i can take care of myse-oOoOoOH it floats? its AMAZING! Told you we'd find good stuff down here, and its yellow to... I like yellow" _the last bit was more of a whisper, thenclue heard voices in the backgroundagain_ "your not expecting me to get in that...Oh god! I'm of to see the wizard love ya bye! EIP!" _ and the com went dead.

Clue took a deep exasperated breathe, "she took him, to the sub rails..." there was a hint of disbelief in his voice, "I really hate it when I'm right..." he finished thinking out loud.

He stood up and started to pace the sitting room, taping the blue tattoo on his face with one matching finger. The with out warning he kicked open the trap door in the floor and slid down the latter there.

He stepped off the latter and into a rather ordinary looking bedroom. A large bed with a yellow flowery bed spread dominated the room, the room looked uncommonly immaculate and even the bed was made. The walls and floor was covered with hard wood slats, giving it an odd boxed in feeling. The large area rug was also evident on the floor. Amazingly even the furniture seemed to be of a matching dark wood set. It was obvious this was more Jules's room than his.

He made his way to the other side where another door was, and passed through it into a walking closet sized room. The first thing that greeted you when you opened it was a large gun rack, on which a variety of guns, both new and old hung. On both sides was shelving filled with boxes trunks and odds and ends.

He reached down and pulled a metal foot locker off the bottom shelf, he opened it and began to rummage through the red armor he found there till he laid hands on the helmet. He picked it up and threw it over his shoulder and it landed on the bed. He also threw over his shoulder some kind of device. He shoved the foot locker back into place and moved to the next box, and then the next and the next until he quiet the little pile on his bed.

He shut the closet and moved onto a chest of drawers and pulled out a pair of thin black shoulder length gloves and threw them on the bed as well.

A few moments later he appeared back in the siting room, changed into a pair of pants instead of shorts and the black gloves under his white tee and brown duster. he snatched up a pack of cigarettes and lite one then threw a little green pack over his shoulder and tried to remember if he had forgotten anything. He spun toward the kitchen table pointing at it with both fingers, "You..." he said scooping up the box under his arm. He locked the door behind him with an ominous click, which made him doubt his plan for a just a moment. But only for a moment.

As he walked down the steps the remaining leaper at his hitch chirped plaintively at him, he stopped and looked at it, "oh come on...don't look at me like that..." the leaper continued to chirp sulkily, putting him on a guilt trip.

"Just make sure its alive when I get back." he thrust the reins at the dark haired gang leader.

"I can do that!" she chirped in the same manner a leaper would.

"the other two are hitched at Kleaver's," Clue continued watching her croon at the animal.

"heh heh" Eruka giggled evilly,"kay, we'll get them...NEKO!"

"yes?" the violet haired boy seemed to apear out of nowhere, Clue couldn't help but smirk despite his mood.

"get some lackeys together and go grab Clueless's Leapers from Kleaver's hitch post." she said sounding commanding for once.

"Yes ma'am!" he shouted and mock salute and ran off again before the gang leader had time to try to smack him for calling her ma'am.

"So..." she leaned against a wall near the large gate that lead into the desert, "besides leaper siting what brings you to my humble garage?"

He took a drag off his cigarette, "need to use your door again."

"aha! I knew it!" she nearly danced with glee, "so this little mission of yours is-," she was pointing at his little green pack.

"is none of your business." he finished for her, "just open the damn gate!"

"NEKO!...NEKO!...Neko?" she looked hurt that he hadn't appeared.

"you already sent him on an errand. Remember?" he told her impatiently.

"oh...damn. SOME ONE OPEN UP THE GATES OR, OR , or...or ELSE!" she yelled at the gang members nearest. "see...thats how you get things done," she said adjusting her green bandanna as the gates clanked open.

Clue looked at the fierce and slightly insane woman before him, he could clearly see a a crazed spark in her green eyes, "I really don't get you."

she pouted, "at least i don't have to be a disgruntle angry stick in the mud hard ass like you. And the felling is entirely mutual believe me...whatever mutual means...any way don't die or nothing, kay?"

He took another drag of his cigarette and snorted smoke out his nose, "alright then..." was all he had to say.

The gate was open now and he was just outside it when Eruka yelled at him again, "Tell Jules her explosives are the SHIT!" she held the fingers of her right hand to her lips and blew an Italian kiss to indicate its goodness, "...tell her we should have cookies and tea sometime!" at this the gates slammed shut behind him.

He stared at the shut gate for a moment and shook his head, dropping his cigarette and putting it out with his foot. He looked up and shaded his eyes from the high noon sun, and with that he took off north across the sandy terrain.

Mid afternoon found our wastelander a good ten miles north of Spargus in view of the ocean separating the desert from Haven. Clue sat on his knees panting, he had decided to run the last few miles and was now regretting it.

He took one last deep breath to compose himself and pulled the bag of his back. He pulled out the red helmet and the matching device and began putting his little plan into action.

The device popped open like a compact makeup case, the top part being a screen and the bottom half a jumble of buttons. Clue shook the thing impatiently when it refused to tun on, he grumbled angrily. A crackle emitted from his hand holding the device, then a welcoming beep chimed from it. Clue opened his hand and then the device, which was now glowing and beeping and running messages across its screen. He then went about pressing buttons on it like a disgruntle typist. Eventually he shut it and put it down, it continued to beep rhythmically.

"I really hope this works," he mumbled to himself as he shoved the crimson colored helmet onto his head and laid down in the sand, "otherwise I'll need a boat..."

Clue didn't even have time to realize he was asleep before he was rudely awakened by the sound of an air craft and a screaming voice.

"_HEY! YOU! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? THIS STUPID ID IS LIKE A THOUSAND YEARS OLD FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! YOU SHOULDN"T DO THAT YOU KNOW! PEOPLE TAKE DISTRESS CALLS SERIUSLY...sometimes..."_

Clue bolted up right and blinked at the large blue air train hovering a good fifty feet above him in the nigh sky. He blinked again, when had it become night? He stood up and turned on his com in his helmet.

"Can you hear me?" he asked tentatively at the disgruntle pilot.

"_course I can fucking hear you, you idiot..._." the pilots voice was a womans, and had the smooth accent of some one who had lived there whole life in the back alleys of Haven.

Clue rolled his eyes behind the visor of the helmet, he had been afraid the mike wasn't working, "so, you gona give me a ride or what?" he asked business like.

"_Why the hell should I?"_ the woman asked with a less angry tone.

"cause you flew all the way out here maybe?" He answered in the innocent sounding way he always spoke when pointing out the absolute obvious. The com was dead for a moment.

"_well! what the hell are you doing out in the desert anyway? Your no that idiot freak they exiled are you?"_

"nope, I'm just an idiot freak that needs a ride," he said cynically getting tiered of the pilot real fast, and not looking forward to the ride back to haven if he managed to get one.

"_alright but what do i get out of it?" _Clue gave a loud sigh, he wished she would hurry up and land so he didn't have to listened to the air train engines roaring over his head.

"If you hurry up and land... I got three thousand haven credits."

the Blue air train immediately came in for a landing, kicking up sand everywhere as it did. The vehicle finally made a landing on the sand and the engine went dead as the pilot's door opened vertically.

A dark hired woman swung her legs out of the cockpit and stood in front of her ship, her hair had a plethora of red streaks running through it and her pale blue eyes just seemed to glare at anything that came under their gaze. She wore the regulation armor that matched the air train.

Clue tore of his helmet and gathered up his pack before approaching her.

"hey?" the pilot asked as he approached, putting one hand on her hip and pointing at him with the other, "I thought you were supposed to be blond?"

"I told you already I'm not Jak." he said icily as he rummaged around in his pack for the bag of credits to buy his flight.

"Well Excuuuuuuuse me, i thought you were, you know being sarcastic or something when you said no" she said rolling her eyes.

Clue gave her a hard look and held out the money,as she went to rreach for it he pulled it back, "were you originally blond or just slow?"

"...OH! Your gona die you bastard!" she said with unexpected anger and rashness she steped towards him throwing a wide right hook at his head.

Clue triped backwards in the sand, as the short pilot flung the unexpected blow at him. The unbalanced Blow ended up with the pilot face first in the sand, With Clue tripping over his boots and uncharacteristically landing flat on his back in the sand.

Clue hauled himself onto his feet and watched the pilot sputter in the sand. She rolled over and glared up at him.

"Do you take every thing this personal?"alls he could think about at that moment was the fact that he wanted another cigarette

"Yes, yes I do," She said glaring with. She watched as he snorted and tapped the money purse against his leg.

"So...we still doing business...?" she titled her head in a way reminiscent to a large bird of prey and eyed the money.

"Three conditions," he said holding up the matching amount of fingers.

The pilot simply continued to glare.

"One, don't do that again and the world we be a much better place for both of us, two you get the money when we get to haven-"

"And three?" she asked impatiently?

"Grab that box, will ya?" he said pointing.

"what the hell, do it yourself..." she started to turn toward her vehicle, but stopped dead at the sound of three thousand credits jingling behind her.

"Sooooooo...you got a name?" She looked over at her passenger. He was lounging with seat reclined back and his feet on the dash. Taking full advantage of the lengthening of her patience when money was involved.

One dark blue eye cracked open and glared at her, "Clue."

She looked at hi, "GOD! At least give me your real name!"

"I did, now shut up and keep your eyes on the ocean." the pilot grumbled and indeed looked out the windshield at an all encompassing blue green ocean.

She snorted indignantly at the view, "Its on auto pilot..."

"Sounds fancy Miss pilot."he didn't even open his eyes.

She snorted again "Don't you even want to know my name?"

"not especially," he sounded half asleep.

"To bad, I'm Flame, Cassie Flamebrough." No response came form her apathetic passenger and he seemed to be asleep by all appearances. He looked unkempt, it wasn't the clothing or his messy hair that fell over his face, it was sand. It seemed to Flame that more pounds of sand fell off him than breaths he took. She shook her head. He looked like that kind of shady guy she would in most cases befriend. 'if only he wasn't an ass' she sighed.

"Your an ass. I hope you die or something... wait your coming back to haven with me...i don't have to hope." she finally said at him.

"Is it really that bad?" he asked skeptically.

She was about to snap something back at him when she saw that she had his full attention, both cobalt eyes fixed on her. He looked worried suddenly, she wondered why, "Well M.H. And K.G bots have more than half of the city in their control...so yeah its pretty fucking bad."

He turned his head and looked out the window at the sprawling seemingly endless body of water.

"Why even go, I'd take the desert over that hell hole." she pointed vaguely in the direction they were going.

"Just drive the ship Blaze," he growled coldly.

"Its Flame!"

he snorted.

"Ass... you could at least be nice." she grumbled more as an after thought.

"Well, I for both of our sakes i was going to sleep but I see thats not going to work" he slide his feet off the dash and sat up, "we're going to have to do this trip the hard way."

Flame gave him the raised eyebrow look. He grinned like a small child who had discovered a new toy. Well, maybe a sadistic child.

"Are we there yet?"

Flame blinked, "its a three hour flight..."

Are we there yet?" he asked again leaning back in the chair again.

"Oh hell no...two can play at this...Are you dead yet?" she crossed her arms and looked at him.

"Are we there yet?"

"Are you DEAD yet?"

he paused for a moment as if in thought, "No."

"Ermmm..."

"Are we there yet?"

"NOOO!"

"I was only asking," He started laughing suddenly, as if at his own joke.

"Are you crazy? How long were you out in the sun back there?" she unconsciously dropped a hand to her side arm.

He looked up at the ceiling of the vehicle, "You ever feel like the world is run by a kid with an over active sadistic imagination, and your life is their person play thing?"

Once again she blinked, "More like a pair of neurotic teens hyped up on sugar with nothing better to do than watch you suffer..."

"That too..." he said shaking a finger at her "If I ever find them..."

"I'll personally hold them down so you can shoot them?"

He grinned, "now we have an understanding..." he shook his finger at her again and continued to look out the window.

She snorted with amusement, "yep, he's nuts."


	27. Clue's magical Haven vacation

Author's note of doom:

HURRAH FOR AN UPDATE! you know the drill read if you want reveiw if you do.

Eruka has Jak X now . Razer must die a painful death. He is Clue's evil clone! grrrrr. Any way this is the long authors note of doom in which I'm actually taking the time to list people who have reviewed and thank them. SO ANY WAYS! HAPPY BELATED ALL HALLOW EVE! .

Clue: dressed in a suit with mime make up on ... glares ... points ... throws a temper tantrum  
Get over it your a mime!  
Clue: glare ...

thanks to ALL my reviewers who like to review at random times! You make my heart go bump bump bump . a big shout out to ChristopherC, thanks man you made my day with your last review. I'm doing a little better. Thanks. . GYFO will never die! Muhahaahaha! An extra shout out to Eruka and Firecat! With out you guys, there would be no GYFO. whether or not this is a good thing has yet to be decided .

Any way thanks to all those who have reviewed (I think this is every body):

Krin, WRTD,Christopher C. , stone scorpion, phantom of les miserables, white wolf zita, crazylooney598/ Firecat, Jaklover123, kadesha, Jessica, Dude, Relly, Dragonknight1, shiNoshinigami, and Eruka Plus April...you little scamp you.

I apologize in advance for the numerous grammatical error's and lack of capitalization. The new word document I work with doesn't have a very smart spelling and grammar check. So my number of stupid grammatical mistakes will likely increase.

--- Get Your Freak On---ch 27---

"Holly shit..."

"Told you it was bad..." Flame said looking down at the vehicle's control's as they came in for a landing. Clue sat in the passenger seat staring out the window, a little awe struck at the devastation of the city below.

Cassie brought the ship down into a perfect landing, the engine grumbled and finally shut down. And things seemed suddenly quite in the destroyed surrounding. The air train's doors hissed stubbornly and began to lift open

Clue bundled his things up in lap in preparation to leave. Flame opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a coin bag in the face. She managed to catch it before it tumbled onto the floor.

"Thanks for the ride."

"Wait? were the hell are you intending to go? Its a freaking war zone out-" She swung her self out the vehicle after him, "-Here..."

She had landed the vehicle close to a large pile of rubble near the port. The city was in shambles and if any one had thought the port was dirty before, then they hadn't seen it in a while.

"your point?" he shouldered the slender box he was toting around with him and shrugs.

"Just tell me were your headed..." she was following after him.

"no idea."

"What! You concocted a scheme to get here and you've got no reason? None at all? Precursor's you MUST be retarded"

"I have to find...people."

"Oh very vague of you I understand now, thank you my life seems worth while now." she threw her hands up at his back in frustration then flipped him off.

She continued to glare at him while he walked away. Flame was not one to let things go, nothing was ever simple with the pilot, she was about ready to run after him and ring his neck but the wastelander stopped dead in his tracks before the idea fully struck her.

He turned and gave her a funny look, "there a head quarters of some kind of sorts or shapes or likeness to?"

"...yeah...there is..." Flame suddenly wanted to get rid of him again, and she had been so close to never having to deal with the odd passenger again.

"Wanna just tell me how to get there maybe?" he asked in sounding doubtfully that she would tell him.

"Great! Now you want directions! This is like a demented children's story. I can see it now, It would be called If You Pick a Creepy Guy Up In the Desert. Why can't you know just go get lost like you plan on doing, its not like it's really going to mater that your even here. Just get lost. Okay, mister mysterious bi-polar passenger man why did you even come her, this city is basically dead anyway!"

Clue looked at her with a puzzled expression as she recovered from her rant, "Your the bi-polar one flipping out every five minutes..." he paused again and gave her another doubtfully look, "so those...directions?"

"Your an ass...that way two blocks. Good riddance," She pointed down the short partially destroyed road and to the right, "I don't see what you plan to accomplish here anyway!" she burst out in one breath.

He snorted. "I need a cigarette,"

"_Flamebrough!" _a com on her hip suddenly crackled to life with a very angry gravely voice.

"OH SHIT!" Flame grabed at the com as if god himself was speaking with her, "YES SIR?"

"_You deserting bitch..."_

"Um sir...I didn't desert, I just went to one..."

"_Bullshit... I want you back at base, Now." _the com clicked dead.

Clue watched as the pilot streamed a string of curses while stomping about in mad circles for the course of half a minute.

She balled a gauntleted fist and smacked the side of her air train with a resounding clang, "Shit" she grumbled and flexed her hand.

"you done yet?" He asked as she stood panting and glaring at him, some how during her rant he had managed to light a cigarette and it was hanging boldly one the side of his lip as it usually did.

"yes...yes I am." she rolled her shoulders making her blue armor click as the joints moved.

"Okay then...you coming?"

"this is all your fault." was her answer as she barged past him and into the empty port side street.

With in a few minutes walk the odd pair found themselves entering the naughty Otsel. Clue could only shake his head at the site of the neon orange Otsel shaped sign.

"We use it for target practice...ugly aint it? " the pilot commented, as she walked toward it.

Clue looked up at it as it waved its pitch fork at him, "Amusing was the word I was looking for," he shook his head again and followed her inside.

Torn sat angrily on the halo table, knife drawn and inspecting it, ignoring the pair as they entered. His sharp emerald eyes flicked up at the two momentarily and looked back down at the knife again.

"Flame..." the guard commander growled.

"I...can explain!" she yelled, frustrated at the commander.

"this better be good," he said more to himself still pretending to examine his blade.

"well you know that signal we got in from the desert? We'll I went out there and..."

"the one you were directly ordered by Veegar not to respond to? And I know you didn't him find out there, you would reported back if you had. So what the hell is going on then?" he looked up then and nailed the pilot with his green eyes.

"um..." Flamebrough shuffled her feet, " I found him," she pointed at Clue who had taken a seat on a table in one of the both.

"Yo," Clue gave the disgruntle commander a mock salute, "remember me?"

"should I?" Torn asked in his usual intimidating manner in which he asked questions.

"Sold me a faulty power cell."

"You only asked if i had one, not if it worked." Torn said gruffly, it was more of a statement and less of a defense.

"Have you ever been hit over the head with a frying pan by your girl friend?" Clue asked him putting out his cigarette on the grimy both table.

"what the hell does that have to do with any thing?" The commander asked looking a little confused but mostly annoyed.

"its what happens when you buy them faulty power cells, "he said lighting another cigarette up.

Torn snorted and turned his attention back to Flame, "You left your entire battalion out there. He pointed toward the west wall."

"Yes sir, I know sire... I left Aiden in charge!" she said putting up what sounded like her last defense, "And she told me to go and i know you demoted her sir but she is still the most experienced one out there! And since when do we take orders from Veeger!"

the leader mumbled angrily, shaking his head.

Flame glared at her commander and caught Clue opening the long box he had been lugging around, "Soooooo," she drawled putting her hands behind her back and rocking on her heels.

"I'm not demoting you..."

"WOOT!" she half yelled with a crooked grin, "I'm still a captian!...Continue," she urged.

"Get your ass out of my sight," he growled at at her unprofesional behavior seeming to push the last of his buttons.

"Did you just call my ass big?" she glared at Torn accusingly, Clue snorted behind her.

"For Mar's sake get the hell out of here and back to your battalion before your **_stupidity_** makes me change my mind!" there was such wrath in this statement that the captain found herself lost for words.

"yes sir," she managed to squeak.

"And take your hitchhiker with you." he said pointing his curved knife at Clue menacingly..

Clue snapped his head toward him at the sound of his name. He blinked with the guilty expression of a child caught red handed. Though he kept his gaze on the disgruntle commander, he continued to stuff his already laden bag with what was in his hands.

"Is that a sword?" Flame asked giving him a skeptical look and pointing at the sword that was indeed strapped to his back.

Torn ran a hand over his face, "Just get the hell out! both of you!"

"Hey who the hell says I'm going with her, I'm just here wait for Jak and Ju-"

'thwack!' Torn's dagger vibrated as it stuck out of the wall where it was thrown. Clue blinked, "Oh SHIT! Okay, okay, I know where I'm not wanted...damn you throw fast..." he mumbled grabbing his long ear and claping his gloved hands over a rather painful looking cut on its edge.

"Now," He growled standing up.

"OKAY! TIME TO GO!" Flame yelled grabbing Clue by the back of the shirt.

Clue found himself outside before he had the chance to regain his composure and do something he'd regret in Torn's presence.

Flame throw her back to the bar's door and took a few deep breaths, "you're lucky he missed," she said pointing at him.

Clue was glaring at her, with a hand still on his ear, which like most ear wounds was bleed profusely for better reason than that it was an ear wound.

"You moved at the last second or something,cause that should have hit your face..." Flame shook her head, "damn lucky."

Clue grumbled something about how fast Torn could throw things and gave up on his ear deciding to just let ti bleed until it felt like stopping.

"Well?" she said stepping father out into the abandoned street, "you coming or going?"

Clue blinked, "is that a trick question?" he asked resigning himself to lean back on his heels and take drag.

"Your not really going to follow me to my battalion?"

Clue leaned onto his toes and back again, his metal soled boots clacking on the cement each time. His brow scrunched up with worried thought, "Yeah, why the hell not." he said decisively, droping back to the flats of his feet with a soft clunk.

Flame made a noise half sigh and part groan, "whatever," and with that she strode away, un-clipping the helmet hanging from her waist and jamming it on her head.

Flamebrough led the way down the port side roads, leading them deeper and deeper into the wreckage of the city. They eventually came to a place in the road where it came to a sharp corner leading into another district of the city.

They had walked there in almost complete silence so when a loud voice and gun barrel met his face, Clue was a lilttle startled.

"Hey, Newbie! Drop your weapon!" A voice boom from behind the gun pointing soldeir.

Clue swatted the gun out of his face and glared at the sapphire haired youth glaring back at him. A small band-aid was stuck over the bridge of the young soldier's nose and the degree in which his hair matched his armor was frightening.

"Name and rank." the voice from before ordered. A tall Blond woman had appeared next to the so called 'newbie' and was pointing a very large arc welder at him.

"Aiden you dumb ass its me!" Flame growled hitting the button on the side of her helmet so the visor flipped up.

"OH MY PRECOURSORS!" She yelled throwing herself at the pilot, "I thought you left me!" the barrel of her gun connected with her helmet with a hollow metal clang. Flame discreetly grabbed her head to make the ringing stop.

"Who's he?" the blue haired soldier said still pointing his gun at clue.

"Me?" Clue asked, pointing at himself.

"Just ignore him..." Flame said with a groan.

Aiden shrugged and holstered her arc welder and threw an arm around her considerably shorter comrade's shoulder, "Well then, how bout a report then?" Flame groaned.

"So..." the young soldier said still standing in Clue's way as he went to follow the two officers, "Your not the Jak guy are you? Cause i thought he was blond"

Clue groaned and looked over his head at the other more interesting soldiers dispersed through out the area.

"No," he said flatly taking a step to walk around him. The soldier to his dismay took a counter step.

"You got a name?" he asked playing with the safety switch of his gun as it hung off his shoulder.

"Its Clue. Now you wanna move?"

"what the hell kind of name is Clue?" the words barely escaped his mouth before he met the concrete. He blinked up at Clue and glared, he wasn't fond of being pushed around.

"what the hell kind of name is newbie?" Clue said stonily, flicking his cigarette but at the downed freedom fighter. The newbie grumbled as he stalked off and glared at a few other guards who found watching others be shoved to the ground amusing.

Clue found the two officers deep in conversation with a few other blue clad guards huddled around a small fire near the shelter of a large mound of rumble.

"...I hate the Clue walked over and stood directly behind Flame.

"...I hate the bastard... But you know..." the Blond officer from before said to flame.

"Yeah it would have been nice," Flame said with a sigh.

"Yeah it would have been _nice, _if the freak wasn't already dead somewhere in the desert," a newcomer said leaning forward from his seat on some ruble to stir the fire. He had a scragy green crew cut that matched his stubbled and unshaven face. brown blood stained bandages wound around one side of his head and over his left eye, his remaining visible green eye glared at flame.

"It was worth a shot, okay!" she blurted out defensively.

"Who the hell is he, any way." the green haired guard asked disapprovingly pointing at Clue. The other woman first gave the ebony haired waste lander looming behind Flame a questioning glare, then gave flame one herself.

"Him?" Flame said leaning back to look up at him, "hes just a pain in the ass."

"And your an annoying bitch..." He shot back, taking a drag.

"So, I'm not the only one who thinks it?" the green haired man pipped in.

"I hope you... you...you..." She grabbed up a small rock and launched it at her comrade. It bounced harmlessly off his scratched an dented chest plate.

"Die? That not a very good threat considering the circumstance, but your pretty numb so I guess the Metal head will get you first." He smirked as he watched the indignation rise in flame's Expression.

"Children..." The blond growled as Flame was about o open her mouth again, Flame resigned herself to glare. "So?" the officer said almost chirping, looking up at clue, "You going to just lurk there or sit. Clue snorted and nudged Flame with his foot, she moved over grumpily and he took a seat on the rubble. "I'm Captain Lenora Aiden and thats Lieutenant Bobbi Havloc, " She said business like with a nod of her toward the green haired Bobbi. Bobbi gave a half salute and went back to poking the fire.

She locked her worn doe brown eyes on Clue then, "Now, one question: Do you have any battle experience at all?" she asked with a frustrated look, accompanied by an equally frustrated hand motion.

"Yep." was his only answer as he looked thoughtfully down at his boots.

"And you carry a sword?" Bobbi Havloc said sarcastically. Flame snickered.

"Seriously, " Flame said, " for once Bob is right, what can you do to a metal head with a sword?"

"You'd be surprised, "Clue said simply flicking the ashes off the end of his cigarette.

"Nice catch Flame, he's entertaining _and_ talkative." Aiden snorted.

Clue glared at her and went back to contemplating his boots.

"Shut up Lenny," Flame kicked her, " At least I tried, Its not my fault the his freakness Jak is probably mummified out in the desert somewhere."

"No he's not."Lenny, Bob and Flame blinked at Clue.

"What do you mean?" Flame asked suspiciously.

"He should have been in the city before I even sent out the distress call," He said still looking at his boots,. I'm actually really surprised he hasn't shown up yet... they should have blown something up by now." he said with a sigh and a partly worried look.

"You mean he's coming?" Bobbi asked.

"No hes saying he should already be here? How do you know this?" Lenora said leaning forward glaring at him intently.

Shots rang out suddenly behind them. All four heads snapped towards the curve in the road leading away from the port.

"_METAL HEADS! INCOMING!" _the com's of the three freedom fighters screamed in unison in the voice of a young and frightened soldier.

Flamebrough, Aiden and Havloc were all up like a shot. The lounging fighter's were mobilizing with a speed moist armies would be jealous of. Helmets were crammed on, Guns un-holsteres and armored buckled at lightning speeds.

Clue swore and grabbed his overstuffed little green pack. He tore open one of the little side pockets and pulled out a pair of streamline looking black and silver wrist bracers. With a moment of hesitation he shouldered his little green bag of tricks, scrambled to his feet to follow the quickly dispersing Guards.

The shots had increased to a chorus of volleys and the familiar piercing screams of a metal head horde assaulted his ears.

"Form a perimeter!"Aiden ordered over the fire, "And for precursor's sake don't just sit there! SHOOT!" she screamed turning to a timid soldier with a hell bent furry.

The metal heads were careening down the street, their yellow Skull gems illuminating their path in the near dusk light like bobbing viscous phantoms. The creatures flooded the street, the remains of the originally ambushed soldiers were already obscured by the oncoming horde.

The Guards had taken up position behind the various piles of ruble, each one firing at random into the sea of metal plated creatures hurling themselves at them. Th metal heads had yet to come into range to fire their own projectiles, and were at the mercy of the Freedom fighter shots. The howls and screams of the felled creatures echoed and reverberated between the walls of the street with horrific intensity.

Suddenly as if the waters of a damn had suddenly let lose, a deluge of purple sparking shots filled the air with their electric buzz.

Clue threw himself behind the relative safety of a pile of debris. He drew his pea shooter and started to charge it up.

"Holly shit is that a peace maker, shit man!" the soldier next to exclaimed as the muzzle of the gun began to glow with a bright intensity.

A opposing Eco shot exploded into the top of their Pile throwing debris and shrapnel everywhere. The first human screams began to split the air.

"Sort of," He Yelled back peeking over the protective rubble. He fired his eco weapon and ducked. The shot flew forward hissing and sizzling with every dark eco blast that came in contact with it. The shot exploded into the midst of the metal heads with an ear splitting roar, blue eco arched and spread from one twisted creature to the next. Not every creature hit died, the screams and yowls of those incapacitated and convulsing on the ground was proof, but the number of those electrified to a crisp made up for those that didn't die immediately.

Clue was able to fire off three more identical shots in succession before the swarm plowed through the battalion's decreasing ranks. The guard next to him fell with a scream as a feline like metal head Clamped its vice like jaws over his helmeted head. Clue swore and shot a quick blast at the creature as it wrestled with the terrified soldier. The metal head was knocked back and twitched twice before collapsing like a rag doll to the side of the guard.

The world around them had exploded into a pandemonium of yowls, shots, screams and kicked up dust and ruble.

"GET UP!" Clue yelled down at the dazed soldier. The soldier scrambled to his feet and took up his armorments and began shooting at anything that moved. Clue seemed to approve of his methods and followed suit.

Clue saw it coming out of the corner of his eye. He spun toward the oncoming beast just in time. With an eclectic crackle three blades shot out of his sleek wrist bracers as he tore into the flesh of the pugnacious metal head as it leaped towards him. He stumbled back with the force of the creature's charge and threw it to the side and off his talons with battle cry.

The sun was setting quickly over the impromptu battlefield. The young soldier was shooting haphazardly at the bouncing green and yellow skull gem lights as they trailed through the growing darkness.

Clue swore aloud over the din, they were rushing right past him. He knew they had to be cut off from the rest of the freedom fighter force by then.

"ah HELL!" Another Metal head lunged at him with a savage roar. His vision was filled with the thing's gnashing teeth before he hooked it through the soft flesh under its jaw with his blades. It screamed a high pitched squeal into Clue's face as it hung impaled on his talon like weapon. He stumbled backwards a few steps and into his blue clad companion before he flung it off with a grisly riping noise.

"HEY!" the soldier yelled at him stabilizing the two of them by grabbing his shoulders, "Aiden's calling for a fall back!"

"NO shit!" Clue yelled back with an air of unnecessary sarcasm, he turned and shot another pouncing metal head with his pea shooter.

"Well if Aiden says fall back we-" the soldier didn't quiet see his sarcasm.

"You know..." he growled still pointing his gun in the general direction where the felled creature lay, "this isn't the best place for conversation."

it was at this moment one of the hundreds of zinging Dark eco shots found its mark in his upper thigh. Clue went down with a confused yelp, his right leg crumpling under his own weight. He hit ground on all fours,swearing like a sailor.

No matter how many times it happened in never failed to shock his system. The feeling of a sub degree icicle injecting cold slick oil into his flesh. For a moment he was lost in the sensation of the Dark eco wound, the rest of the world had been blocked out and it came exploding back with the sound of gunshot and feral growls.

A Metal Head exploded past him, galloping at full speed. Followed by another, and yet another retreating creature. The resounding sound of booming red eco blast droned out and out numbered the sizzling dark eco shots.

Clue managed to drag himself back up to his feet. His leg had already gone mostly numb. He turned to face the retreating horde of metal head rushing by. He blinked only moments before they had been rushing the other way past him. None them seemed to be bvothering themselves with him despite his bleeding leg.

His blue armored companion was nowhere in sight, But the voices and yells of the battalion were quickly approaching as they drove the metal heads back down the street

the sight off the soldiers rushing towards him in the setling gloom and the sound of their clomping boots seemed to shake him back to reality and remind him of the gun in his hand.

So being the stubborn, bitter person that he was, he turned whipping his duster around behind him to face the retreating foe. He charged his pea shooter and let fly at the heels of the fleeing beasts.

He didn't get to see the result of his vengeful shot into the back of the horde though, claws suddenly impacted his back. He hit the ground ground face first, the back of his head in the jaws of the attacking predator.

With a lightening fast motion he reached up behind his own head and grabbed the creature's head holding his own. Before the metal head knew what hit it, the six blades of the wastelander's bracers were impaled in to it's face and neck. With an ominous sizzle the creature began to twitch and spasm.

Unfortunately for Clue metal heads are die hards, and the pain enraged metal plated feline clamped its jaws down with greater force as it's Life blood began to gush out and its spasm became more intense.

Clue screamed. And tried to lever the thing off of him in vain. He ended up squirming underneath its weight due to his lack of upper body strength and bum leg.

The metal head gave one more final convulsion before going limp and becoming a dead weight on his back. With a grunt he let his blades retract into the bracers and used his freed hands to push himself off the ground and slide the metal head corpse off of him.

He was struggling to get back onto his feet with his numb leg when someone grabbed him by the shoulder and hauled him to his feet.

"What the hell are you doing here!" an oddly familiar voice cried with accusing amazement and surprise.

"Clue?"

Clue blinked, getting back his balance back and looked over and saw through his swimming vision a very confused looking Jak. The shorter blond had a steadying hand on his shoulder. Jak was a mess, a cut on his brow was bleeding down the side of his face and he was covered in soot as if he had stood a little to close to a couple dozen explosions.

"Did you miss me?" Clue managed to ask with wry grin. He put a gloved hand gingerly to the back of his head and winced.

"You okay?" Jak asked him, thinking he looked about ready to pass out. He didn't really give a damn how he got to the city at the moment. He was more concerned with the swarming metal head that had invaded the port.

"Peachy," was his short retort. With a quick motion, that betrayed his state of being, he whipped up his gun and let lose a small discharge at a brave metal head that had intended to pounce them from atop a pile of near by ruble, "Just peachy."

"Well your in a good mood," Daxter commented sardonically.

Jak snorted. He let go of Clue and looked through the sights of his morph gun and began to pick off the metal heads as they plowed their way down the street. With each shot the blond took a couple steps after his foes, Pursuing them down the street with a vengeance.

The darkened street was now swarming with freedom fighters instead of metal heads. The only sign of the dispersing beasts was the distant bobbing of green yellow lights reflecting off the metal sidings of the buildings at the far corner. The eerie light of the last fleeing metal heads vanished and a stupendous cheering roared to life with in the battalion's ranks. Clue stood where Jak had left him, leaning most of his weight on his good leg, trying very hard not to let the four puncture wounds on the back of his head get to him.

"Hey!" He was nearly toppled as he he was tackled into an awkward hug. Jules grinned up at him with a face equally as sooty as Jak's. Her strawberry blond hair was tangled and windswept and her bagy yellow hat was missing from its usual roost.

"Hey..." he echoed back grabbing her up tighter than she expected, leaving bloody hand prints on her shirt. he kissed her quickly on the top of the head, "Do me a favor," he said releasing her for a moment, "Never get in any type of vehicle with Jak again." he finished trying to give her a grin through the fierce pain in the back of his head.

Jules laughed in an ironic way, "You hear that Jak! Your Driving sucks!"

"well it doesn't help you were screaming your head off the whole way!" Daxter called as Jak strutted over through the crowd of rejoicing soldiers.

Jak jostled his shoulder so the Otsel had to scramble to keep his balance, "Shut up Dax." the blond renegade chastised him with a groan. He leaned on his morph gun and looked over at the couple, eying the trickle of blood running behind Clue's ear and down his neck,"You sure your okay?"

"Not really..."he answered, looking past him with unfocused eyes.

Jules squeaked as the larger man leaned his full weight onto her shoulders. Jak snatched up his gun and holstered on his back with a deft motion. He grabbed the wastelander's arm and threw it around his shoulder, freeing the short red head from his weight.

"Thanks..." He managed to mumble. Jak grunted in return and Daxter hopped onto Jule's shoulder, surprisingly without comment.

"_WAAAHAA YEAH! HELL YES! METAL DEADS I TELL YOU! METAL DEADS! ...WHO"S UP FOR DINNER AT TORNS PLACE?" _the com on Jak's hip exploded with an excited woman's voice.

"_Alright, Alright," _a slightly saner sounding voice yelled over the static and excited soldiers, "_You heard the spaz!...Lets get our asses back to HQ!"_

"their armor makes them look like smurfs..." Clue mumbled as a sea of blue clad guards streamed past them. Jak had no idea what he was talking about.

Every muscle in Jak's body was protesting the newest strain put on it. Her attempted to wipe some of the sweat and blood of his brow with the back of his hand and committed him self to the uncomfortable task. He helped Clue hobble along in silence, listening to tired yet joyous soldiers about him. After the rigors of the last few hours, hauling Clue back to the naughty Otsel was the last thing he wanted to do. Just thinking about the past six hours made him want to sit down and plan Jules's immediate switch to decaf.

"Your girl friend is nuts..." Jak said mostly to himself, assuming Clue was more unconscious than not as they hobbled along, avoiding the numerous corpses scattering the area.

"Thats half the fun..." he replied unexpectedly with a half chuckle " what took you two so long anyway?"

Clue's metal soled shoe scraped against the pavement as he dragged his injured leg, Jak sighed and eyed Jules of to his left before answering. She had struck up a conversation with a female guard and was showing off her hammer to her while Daxter tried in vain to flirt with her.

" besides the fact that she lit two tons of dynamite on a rail train on a slow fuse, so we had to run after it so as not to blow up, combined with the number of metal heads in the sewers-"

"and the sewers are on the other side of town..." Clue interrupted.

"Yeah..." Jak mumbled, "Any chance you can hobble faster?"

"You lucky I don't like to pass out in public..." Clue said with a groan as he dragged his right leg forward. The two were actually making surprisingly good time.

Jak sighed and after a moment of thought asked, "How the hell did you get here anyway?"

"Magic," he said with a relieved kind of way as the neon orange mascot of the naughty Otsel came into view.


	28. Alias and intrigue

And add a pinch of intrigue? This is one of my short chapters that makes little sense at the time but will much later on . or if your smart you'll catch on. Just checking in on Keira back at the city HQ we'll get back to the action packed adventures of Jak next chappie. Read if you want, review if you do!

---Get Your Freak On---Ch 28---

Keira looked up as the electric sliding door to her makeshift room opened with a hiss.

"Ashelin?" she called blinking the the spots her welder torch had left in her vision.

"I am going to strangle Veeger," the red headed governess said throwing herself into a chair next to the small table. Keira lifted up her welding mask and looked at the woman with a slight frown.

Keria's room was a maze of tables with the remains of her mechanical possessions strewn across them. It wasn't a lot, most of everything she owned had been destroyed when the palace had taken out the stadium. What she had left had been in storage in another facility. One corner was filled with a small bed, the only proof that the room was indeed a bedroom and not a work shop.

"You say that after every meeting," Keria reminded her. Ashelin groaned and leaned her elbows onto the table in a casual manner. After Jak was exiled the unspoken tension between the two women had slowly disappeared. Being that they were the only two female occupants of the official city headquarters, they were bound to strike up some sort of friendship with the other.

"He's such an idiot..." the red head said pointedly, Keria nodded her head as she began to list and explain numerous tactical maneuvers that should have been taken but had been voted down do to Veeger's death grip on the council. It was just about the same rant she spewed after each meeting.

Keira Looked at the piece of machinery she was working on and inspected her welds. It wasn't that she didn't care, havingAshelin drop by now and then was one of the only things that broke up her days. There wasn't much for a mechanic to do during war times, her father wouldn't let her get involved enough to help anyway. Besides, she had something important on her mind.

"Jak's in the city..." Keria said suddenly interrupting the governess's stressed rant.

Ashelin blinked, "What?"

"I saw him outs side the north barrier when I went on that walk with daddy" she said, she mental winced. She had to get out of the habit of calling her father daddy when talking to others about him.

"Really!" Asheline pounded the table with her hand, a spark of excitement and hope suddenly pouring into her.

Keria nodded, "Had some little red head girl with him too." she added.

Ashelin didn't seem to care and dismissed the comment with a shrug, "how did that bastard get into the city any way?" she asked leaning forward towards Keira.

"I've been trying to figure that out too! I don't have any idea, I didn't think he'd come back after you know..." Keira looked down at her metal work again, referring to their meeting out in the desert.

"I know, he's such a stubborn bastard..." She said shaking her head, "Well with the one man army boy wonder back, I bet torn will be in a better mood."

"How is Torn?" Keira asked dancing on the edge of the tension that could tare apart the newly formed alliance between the two.

"Alive I suppose," She spat bitterly. Keira frowned a little, but hid it before her companion could notice.

Ashelin leaned back in her chair and raised her tattooed face to stare at the kind and compassionate ceiling, she sighed. "Things should start looking up soon right?" she sounded kind of desperate when she said it.

Keira shook her head and fiddled with her bit of work again. It always settled with her the wrong way when people thrust all their problems on Jak, even if he was the one man army wonder boy. It was only cute when Daxter did it.

"Hey!" Keira said suddenly, remembering the pet project she had started earlier out of boredom, "Check this out." she spun around on her swivel chair. She brought up her pet project mostly to change the subject and mostly because it was interesting. Like most of her pet projests it was interesting but mostly insignificant. She picked up a folder and slapped it down in front of Ashelin.

Ashelin eyed it, the tattoos on her face contorting as she lifted a brow in question, "What is it?"

Keira rolled her eyes, leaned over and flipped open the folder for her, " You remember that distress call that came in from the desert earlier today?"

Ashelin nodded picking up the folder, seeming to find it important enough to expand her time on. She had spent about an hour fighting with Veeger trying to get him to authorize a response at the very least.

She slapped the folder back on the table and tapped it with a long nailed finger, "This is ancient. Long before my father's rule at least."

Keira nodded, "Keep reading." she watched the ex-guard's eye flick across the pages as she read.

"wait?" Ashelin said under her breath, Keira smirked, "this can't be right."

"Some one must have messed up the dates, thats the only explanation." Keria said anticipating her question.

"If he was twenty three when he joined up, how can this Id..." She trailed off flipping through the other pages, "You have way to much time on your hands..."

Keira sighed it was true, she ignored it though and continued her explanation, "the Id was supposedly taken a week before he deserted. which doesn't make any sense, seeing how he had been in service for fifteen years by that time and he still looks about twenty three"

"Your sure it lists his age as twenty three on his registry papers? It could be they printed what age he was after he went missing.." Ashelin was spreading the papers out on the table now.

Keira giggled, no one was more OCD than Ashelin, she liked everything to make sense, everything to be planed and she liked having all the answers.

"this is going to bother me..." she mumbled reading something in the file about the soldier who had owned the old distress beacon, "Some odd little mystery is the last thing i need Keira. Why do you do this to me?" she said unaccusingly shifting through the pappers.

"cause you would work yourself to death other wise," keira's quick retort as she pulled out a paper, "see here's the registry papers... there's no birth date just age twenty three."

"that makes no sense," Ashelin said exasperatedly pulling out the original Bio page. She tapped the soldier's glaring picture thoughtfully.

"Well," The mechanic went on mater of fatly, "I think someone is using this B.B. Fellow as an alias." she pulled out three more pages out of the mess Ashelin had made of the pages by spreading them out on the table. "I ran the name through the old KG database and got three separate hits all from different time periods. I f this guy was real he'd be an old geezer with a very long wrap sheet who never got caught"

Ashelin leaned over to look at the separate wrap sheets, on one most of the crimes listed were petty, concerned mostly with drugs and theft. The other one which was dated during the guard's time of service involved several court marshals for disobedience.

"wait? This one is less than thirty years ago?" she waved the third wrap sheet in frustration, the document listed acts of terrorism, anarchy, treason and assassination, All of which had gone unpunished. She was about ready to burst with the absurdity of it all, it wasn't important yet she found her self rapped up in the mystery of it.

Keira nodded again, "thats what got me thinking it was more than one person using the name as an alias."

"Well that makes sense, still don't see why they would have deserted though." she added looking at the picture on the Bio again, "Why would you volunteer and serve through the entire first metal head was and then just walk away?"

Keira shrugged, "I just want to know who was using it in the first place? When I get the chance I'm gonna ask Jak if he tried to use it to get a ride back to the city..." she trailed off realizing she had just defeated the purpose of changing the subject.

Ashelin shrugged, "Maybe."

the com on the governess's hip beeped and the voice of whinny freedom fighter hailed her to the command center, "Its commander Torn Ma'am." Ashelin groaned and responded.

"Well I got to go, duty calls." she said standing up.

"see ya later then..." She replied automatically scoping up the papers.

Ashelin headed for the door, but stopped before leaving, "thanks for the distraction."

Keira gave her an honest smile, "No prob. Can't have our gallant leader over working herself! Now can we," She put her hands on her hips as she sat in her swivel chair and gave the tall red head an encouraging look, "Now go talk to Torn before he has an anxiety attack waiting for you!"

"Yes Ma'am." Ashelin said sarcastically with dry laugh. With that the governess was gone and the mechanic was alone with her thoughts.

She found herself staring blankly at the picture of the dark haired guard with the crew cut. He was glaring back at her with a pair of tired blue eyes, he looked more than a little beat up and grimy. A cigarette hung out of his mouth above dark rectangular goatee that started just below his lip. A sad excuse for a blue Kg tattoo graced the side of his cheek in the form of a lone rectangle.

She sighed, he was kinda cute. She shoved papers back into the folder and donned her welding cap.

"If I were to make up an alias for my self, I think I'd go with something a little less obvious than B.B. Clue," She mumbled to herself before slamming the visor of her welding cap down and turning on her torch.


	29. Mr lightbright

W00t Eruka beat JAK X and I watchededededed! WEEE (gigles) (GLARE) (giggle)

the amount of sugar and caffine required to achieve this acomplishment is beyond imagining...every one knows video games get easy when your hyper . jazed up YO!

Razer: GO TEAM! (gives Clue a high five)

Clue: O.o evil...clone...twin...must destroy.

Razer: Go team?

"giggles" lots of little odd Jules quotes in this one hope you enjoy . happy thanks giving day to all you peeps who care about it! Sory for the long update time, wait was it even long O.o "can't remember" erm...well I'm sorry just in case!

"foot ball, like religeon has this odd way of completely baffling me" - my mother watching a super bowl commercial.

Okay dokey read if you want, review if you do. Ignore the evil mimes on the way out.

----Chapter 29----

"ERROL!"

Clue blinked himself back to consciousness to the sound of Jak's enraged voice. An angry conversation whipped into life, Clue continued to blink with out really registering what was going on. Some one had a hold of his head. his vision was finally swimming in to focus

"Who the hell is Errol," Jules asked tying a bandage around Clue's bleeding head.

Jak turned to stare at the little marauder woman crouched on the floor, he opened his mouth to say something but simply growled in frustration. He banged his fist on the table and clenched his jaw.

Torn groaned and crossed his arms.

Jules stood up and joined them at the hallo table, an uncommon look of concern plastered on her face. She didn't seem to notice her patient returning to the land of the waking.

"Okay how is Errol still alive? We ran him over RIGHT! He Blew Up." the Otsel let out an exasperated groan. Jules gave a little sigh and looked over at Jak who was staring intently at his fist still held on the table. the renegade was seething, most of the eyes in the room were locked on him.

The Bar was filled to the brim with injured freedom fighters, some worse than others. They filled up all the booths and were scattered on the floor. The injured soldiers made a shockingly quiet audience.

The marauder gave a quiet polite cough, "Mr. Torn Guy." she said quickly grabbing his attention, "Before we all get carried away with this Errol person or what not...You should know that crazy count Veeger man is planning something, he's got the precursor monks under his finger," she put her hands on her hips and gave Torn a look.

Torn Glared down at the table as Daxter elaborated, "Yeah he sicked this huge, I mean HUGE robot on us! he kept ranting on and on about those catacombs old log head was spewing about!"

Jak finally seemed to get a hold of himself and crossed his arms, nodding his consensus to Dax's story.

"Robots?" Jak looked down at the sound of clue's voice, he had an unlit cigarette already in his mouth and rummaging for a lighter.

"um...yeah..." Jules said hesitantly grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"metal heads, sub rails, explosives...and robots..." He muttered in a disgruntle way, finding his lighter in one of his duster's pockets.

"Hey...I'm sorry you got your ass kicked trying to sweep into the city to save me," she said sincerely in her own chipper and sarcastic way.

The guards broke out snickering.

"Oh burn," Daxter said rather loudly hopping on top of Jak's shoulder plate.

Jules stood there awkwardly, she hadn't meant it that way, not at all. Clue flipped open his zippo and lite the cigarette and stared intently at his bandaged thigh muttering something to himself about 'getting rusty'.

"anyways," Torn said giving his men some hard looks, "like I said this whole thing is a mess,we're completely cut off from the rest of our forces and the metal heads and kg got us pinned down here on two fronts." he shoved his finger at a couple places on the map of the city hovering in front of him over the table.

Daxter's eyes went wide and if the rodent could have paled he would have, Jak nodded. He was ready, things were taking on a semblance of a purpose.

"_Commander Torn! Kg blast bots coming in fast from the north! They're heading straight for you!" _Torn's comm suddenly exploded with the sounds of gunfire and the soldiers report.

Torn gave Jak the look.

"DON"T EVEN ASK! We are SOOO ahead of you!" Daxter yelled saluting smartly from his perch. Just like that Jak was making for the door and Torn was shouting orders over the comm.

Jules stood a bit bewildered in the following activity, some of the less injured guards followed Jak out the door. Either compelled by duty or the thought that they had a better chance out in the fray than the did siting in a blast bot's intended target.

Jules looked down at Clue who was still sitting slumped against the wall staring at his lap. His long dark bangs hid his eyes and a curl of smoke wafted up from his cigarette.

Jules heaved a sigh, and grabbed her hammer that was leaning up against the wall next to him. despite their close proximity neither one said anything to the other. She grabbed it and left, with the thoughts that anything was better than just standing there regretting the words that had spilled out of her mouth. She knew how he was, she didn't mind him being protective, what she said had been true. One fact remained the same though, there was nothing worse than a man with a bruised ego.

A brunette guard seated against the opposite wall watched her go, "That little red head of yours is a catch," he said directing the comment at Clue who was also watching her go out the door, "Quite the warrior princess," he added. "Hope her and dark boy know what the hell their doing."

Clue looked up slowly and gave him an icy stare, blowing smoke out his nose.

"alright I was just saying..." the brunette said defensively nursing his bandaged arm. There was an awkward silence at that moment. By some coincidence even torn was quiet for the briefest time. The guard some how felt impelled to fill the void in the uncooperative conversation, perhaps in an atempt to ignore the threat that was approaching them, "How you holding up anyway, with that eco burn?" he asked flexing his own hand and wincing.

Clue looked down at his lap again, still brooding over the truth of Jules's statement. He looked back up at the guard and said blatantly, "My crotch is numb."

the guard next to the brunette gave a soft whistle, he looked older than the other one and bore a scar across his cheek, "Doncha hate that?" he said sympathetically with a look that spook of past experience.

Clue glared at his bandaged eco burn again, "Yes, yes I do." he said flatly.

----leniluvspagebreakslikefatkidlovescakes----

Jules held her hammer like a disgruntle golfer. With a wide arcing back swing she sent the bomb sailing towards an equally explosive bot. She grinned as she watched the machine be engulfed momentarily by the explosion.

Jak stopped pumping blaster shots into the hunk of metal long enough to run forward and punt one of the thing's own bombs back at it.

"Ooh touch down...FOUR POINTS!" Jules yelled as another explosion met the red kg creation.

Jak turned and gave her a funny look. Though he was nearly used to the her crazy commentary he still didn't understand most of the things that came out of her mouth.

"THOSE BOMBS ARN'T BEEPING FOR THE HELL OF IT YOU KNOW!" Daxter screamed as the bombs did indeed begin to beep faster. Jules scampered away back towards the retreated guards, Jak not two steps behind her.

Jak turned as soon as the explosion behind him had ended, he began pumping more shots into the thing before its laser pointed cannon even came on line again.

Jules tried to stay out of the way as she watched the small group of guards and Jak do a dangerous dance with the the bot's laser sight. She watched as not for the first time, Jak let the deadly red dot center in on his chest, just to jump or roll away at the right moment as the high powered cannon blasted a red eco burst in his general direction.

Suddenly the demolition machine started to march forward on its robotic spider like legs. The group continued its blasting and the bot continued to attempt to sniper them off. Jules swore inwardly again at her lack of a distanced weapon. Jak and her had already helped take down two bots, and she hadn't really felt that helpful yet.

It was during this brief inflection that she realized the laser sight had zeroed in on her and was casting a rosy red glare into her eyes.

She blinked and threw her self to the right, the sound of the machines cannon ringing in her ears. She scrambled to her feet and stared at the machine as it continued to advance on her, she had thrown her self perilously close to its clicking insectoid legs. Despite the barrage of shots plowing in to it the thing showed no signs of stopping. For a inappropriately timed moment she admired the technology

Jules pushed the thought away and braced her hammer in both hands. with a mighty swing she brought it down on one of its legs. Her hands vibrated painfully on contract, the whole blast bot vibrated loudly as well. She stumbled back and nearly fell as the machine stepped neatly over her.

She distantly heard some one call her name but ignored it. She struck at the body of the bot over her head. A resounding electric crackle etched the air.

"JULES!"

"Get out of there!"

The legs began to give way under its own weight while she was still beneath it, once again she threw her self to the right and hoped for the best. Only the loud increasing volume of the beeping behind her urged her to her feet again as she scrambled away from the doomed soon to explode robot.

The bot then blew its self to bits, detonating its cargo prematurely as the surrounding guard began to whoop and cheer.

One such soldier grabbed Jules by the arm as she stumbled by. The red head was panting and cursing in an unknown language. The soldier's visor flipped up and the femal leutenant gave her a disbelieving grin, "Guess you hit something vital."

Jules looked up at the tall blond and nodded, "I guess the hell so!"

Jak jogged up beside the two. Daxter jumped onto the wastelander's shoulder, "Geees, sweet checks, never knew you had it in you."

"Don't call me sweet cheeks..." she growled trying to shrug the otsel off her. Jak shook his head. despite her craziness and obsession with explosives he didn't mind her hanging around. It wasn't like she couldn't take care of her self. if anything the renegade found her slightly amusing.

"You and explosives don't mix well do they?" the blond guard who turned out to be Aiden said with a chuckle.

"No, no she doesn't." Jak said thinking back to the eco mine.

"_Hey look at that," Daxter had said pointing out the large cart full of explosives._

_Jak finished strapping on the pair of precursor shin guards he found in an alcove. He stood up and watched Jules skipped ahead of him with her hammer thrown over her shoulder. She stopped suddenly in front of the cart, staring up at it with awe. Jak strode up beside her and looked it up with her. _

"_...Its beautiful!" She said suddenly grabbing his arm impulsively with a squel._

"_Alright woman you've lost it!" Daxter yelled at her._

"_Oh look!" she said impishly realizing his shoulder and rushing towards a control panel to begin pressing all the buttons._

"_Jules? I wouldn't-" Jak said running up behind her._

_Lights suddenly flashed on and the panel started blinking urgently at them the words, "tracks obstructed" as the cart loaded with explosives behind them began to lurch down the tracks._

_Jak glared at her and raced after the cart, "Jules your a crazy person!" Daxter screamed over his shoulder._

"_SORRY!" she yelled as she ran after them and the cart._

Jules giggled and gave Jak an impish grin. He just shook his head. Aiden gave both of them a confused look.

"You don't wanna know..." Dax told her.

Aiden took his furry little word for it and gave Jak a calculating look. She had served back during the baron's reign, the blue Kg designs tattooed across her face were proof, and she found it a little disconcerting to be so close to Jak. The idea of holding a conversation with him was an alien idea, and the longer she stood there in his presence the more she thought about his more dangerous dark eco induced form. So not wanting to know was right up on her list.

She was brought out of thought and relieved when her comm went off informing her another blast bot had been taken down. That made five in all she thought absently.

"INCOMMING!" some one yelled as the mechanical sound of another blast bot approached.

Aiden assembled her troops and Jules watched as they started there deadly dance with the laser sight all over again.

Jak rolled to the side as the sight targeted him and powered up the cannon. The eco shot hit bare concrete where he had been a moment before. He continued to shoot at it adding his own yellow blast to the colored shots raging at it. An idea struck the renegade as he watched the mechanical invention plod unabated down the street. He grabbed his morph gun and quickly contorted it to the vulcan furry.

"Hang on Dax!"he yelled running up behind the robot and dodging between its legs. Dax had a death grip on his shoulder as Jak aimed up at the vulnerable inner workings of the blast bot and peppered it with vulcan furry shots.

Jak took the sound of the legs collapsing underneath it as a sign to get the hell out form under it.

Aiden grinned as he shot towards her from under the soon to be piece of scrap metal. She had to give the guy props where props were due. She watched as the blast bot took a couple more labored steps forward, electrical crackles running up and down its key parts. The cannon spun wildly once and fired before the whole machine erupted into a fiery explosion.

Jules blinked owlishly as the smoke cleared. two younger soldiers to her left gave each other high fives.

"lieutenant! Lietenant Aiden!" Jules snapped her head and saw the flurry of guards flocking to one of two prone figures on the pavement.

"JAK! JAK!" Daxters small but shrill voice pierced the air even over the din of the guards and Aiden's frantic screams.

Jules did her best to push her verticaly challenged self through the small crowd of armored guards. The guards shoved past her already bearing their injured comrade back towards the HQ.

Something in her stomach began to chase its own tail. Daxter's keening voice was still reaching her ear, but it wasn't till after a large guard shouldered her that she caught sight of him.

Jak lay face first on the ground, a bright pool of cherry colored blood seeping out from under him. Jules bit her lip as she trotted over, she could plainly see were the bot had shot a fist sized hole in his back.

Daxter was trying his best to turn Jak over, but so far wasn't having much luck. He was just too small. Jules nearly knocked him over as she grabbed the downed renegade by the shoulder plate and wrenched him onto his back.

Jules covered her mouth and leaned back on her heels. A matching seeping red hole the size of her fist also graced the front of the hero's chest.

"JAK!" Daxter yelled again, "Don't do this to me, buddy!"

Jules recovered from her initial shock and more by instinct than reason pushed both hands down on the blood bubbling wound. She grimaced to herself and pressed harder, 'this is pointless,' she thought to herself morbidly, as his hot blood bubbled up through her fingers, 'no one can survive a through and through like this.'

Jules half heard a few lingering guards shuffling behind them, their curios whispers somehow still audible over daxter.

Daxter stood with one foot on each shoulder, and had Jak by the ears and was yelling at him as though his frantic commands themselves could keep the blond in the world of the living. Then to Daxter's complete surprise Jak's ice blue eyes blinked at him.

"JAK, LISTEN TO ME, JAK!" Dax yelled surprised beyond belief that his boyhood friend was even still alive, "DON"T STEP INOT THE LIGHT!"

Jules threw her self back as a bright light suddenly seemed to explode out of the wound and slip through her fingers along with the blood. It was as if it had happened on Daxter queue.

"what the hell..." She stared at Jak. The remaining gourds behind took a few steps back.

With a sound like a breaking wine glass Jak lit up like a Christmas tree. The light that had seemed to shine out of the wound had spread to encompass him, it was like looking through a curtain of translucent light. Jules slowly started to scoot away.

Every muscle in Jak's body tensed at once as the light seemed to glow brighter. When the light hit an impossible intensity Jak began to squirm, as if the light was trying to escape him all at once. Jules watched transfixed as he arched his back and neck in a silent scream. As soon as his mouth opened the light shinned out as if eager to escape the confines of his body.

Jak was grabbing at his chest wildly were the wound had been. His eyes flew open and it was like some one had reached into his skull and screwed in a pair of light bulbs. And then just like that, With another noise that sounded like a shattering glass, the light was gone..

"Holly shit," a guard mumbled cautiously walking up to the gasping warrior on the pavement.

"Weird shit bro," the guards counter part said walking past Jules.

"See that? Hes not even bleeding anymore!"

"HEY!" Dax yelled from her shoulder. Jules blinked she wasn't sure how or when the otsel manged to get there. "Give. The. Guy. Some. ROOM!" Daxter actually manged to say this forcefully. He jumped off the marauder woman's shoulder and marched off towards Jak.

Jules scrambled up to her feet "Thats far enough private McMuffin..." she said giving one of the guards a shove before his boot could collide with the otsel.

"Come on man, lets leave the freaks to their show," the one that hadn't been shoved said to other putting a restraining hand on his shoulder. The two guards wandered away, still conversing with each eachother, twhile leading the small crowd of more timid guards away.

Jak had managed to pull himself up into a seated position and sat like a confused child in a large puddle of blood.

"heya big guy, you gonna make it?" Daxter asked smoothly hopping onto his lap.

Jak just blinked and fingered the large scorched hole in his tunic. His fingers fell only on a new and bloody scar, "I dunno," he said softly. He reached a hand up awkwardly behind his back in order to reach the first scars identical twin. He dropped his hand though when Daxter got all up in his face.

"And what the hell was with the light show! Pretty spiffy and all but... howaboutneverdoingthatagian! " Daxter yelled very quickly all in one breath working himself up into an orange spaz attack. Jak covered his ears as the otsel yelled and made a face indicative of a migraine.

"Okay Mr. Lightbrite, you think you can stand?" Jules asked reaching don a blood soaked hand to him. He looked up and nodded. With her help he managed to gain his feet on the blood slicked pavement.

"This all mine?" Jak said, looking down at the blood dripping down his sides and the puddle on the ground.

"Yep," Jules said mater of factly looking down as well, "Freaky huh?"

Jak nodded and massaged his temple with two bloody fingers.

"You sure your gonna make it? You more than kinda just got shot to death?" Daxter said from his usual perch, sounding unusually concerned.

"dizzy," was all he had to say for himself as Jules began to shoo him out of the puddle of blood and in the general direction of the Naughty Otsel.

Jules hadn't noticed it at first but small splotches of color danced about in vision if she moved her eyes too fast. "Okay zippy, next time you get your freak on like that again, don't do it in my face..." she said trying to blink away said splotches.

"remind me not to step into the light again then," he said darkly, his wits seeming to be returning to him.

Jules shrugged, and watched him half stager down the street, "cheer up sunshine, weirder shit has happened! Trust me."

Jak just grimaced and continued to rub his temples.


	30. Party Tricks

WOOOOOOOAH long time no update huh? Hope some one out there is still reading this….this was a ridiculously hard chapter to write and keep both these guys in character. I'm not sure I want to take this fic in the same direction any more so if things seem to shift that's why… I'm gona try and speed up the plot too . oh by the way this has mad fore shadowing in it.

---Get Your Freak On---

Jak slide into the both, completely ignoring the sudden din his presence caused.

"You're DEAD! I SAW YOU!…. She's dead, it went right, right through you!…your not!..its" Flamebrough made it half way across the bar before a couple of lieutenants cut her off. At this point the pilot turned her furry on her comrades. It wasn't long till torn was bellowing and other lieutenants were echoing the pilots questions at Jak's seemingly miraculous return to base. The command room suddenly became a whirl wind of disorder. Daxter's voice burst into the ungodly uproar and the lieutenants suddenly chorused together in outrage.

Jak crossed his arms on the table and laid his head on them, willing the rest of the occupants in the room to simply disappear.

Clue looked over at the blonde now sitting in front of him and then at the mass hysteria to left, "you really can't stay out of trouble at all, can you?" he asked almost rhetorically.

"No," came Jak's dark replied, barely audible over the ruckus.

"HEY! SHUT THE HELL UP! ALL OF YOU! NOW!" the room went dead, Clue snapped his head towards the figure standing on the halo table.

The little marauder was a ragtag mess and an even odder sight from her new position on the table. Jules swallowed hard and held her stance on the table, she hadn't really expected anyone to listen, "Well….that's better," she said to the crowd, still bursting with frustration that flooded out her nervousness. The holographic images shimmered around the small woman as she took a step or two towards the bulk of the lieutenants. "rabid leapers make less noise than you pieces of shit," she said casting her gaze across the room. Standing in the midst of the swirling holo projection her every movement caused the images to churn and cast unrealistic shadows across her face.

"Who the hell do you think you are, get down from there you little bitch!" some one in the small crowd roared.

Torn stood back with his arms crossed, fuming, watching the odd, fierce, little woman with a hammer strutting about on his holo table.

"ME!" Jules yelled, swinging her hammer in the general direction of the heads of her audience, "I'm the one that had to listen to your stupid god damnable shitty ass-" at this point the red head broke into the marauder language, she ended her rant nicely with "-sissy punk ass whiners!"

The lieutenants collectively blinked at her.

"Don't you think you should argue about something more productive! Cause, Damn, you blue tin cans are not good at thinking-" it was at this moment that clue slide out of the both and made his way thought the small crowd to the table.

"Who you calling stupid!" Flambrough was on her feet again, "You haven't been here, you don't what this is all about. You say we can't think! We've been out thunk a thousand times! And we just lost the best damn Lieutenant in the regiment! So either you get your ass of the commander's holo table or I'll do it for you!" the pilot stood away from the others. rage, grief and frustration burned in her eyes and she was quite serious.

"Hey Cupcake, just chill out. We can talk this-" Daxter's attempt at peaceful negations failed miserably and the room broke out into yelling and pointing. Each lieutenant began blaming the failures of the war on each other and any other scapegoats they could come up with.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Torn roared like some distempered lion, Banging both fists on the table making the images jump. The bar was silent again. "Now get the HELL of my table." He pointed at Jules.

She stood clutching her hammer to her breast like some small lost child. Clue reached across the holo table and tapped her ankle, "Come on," he said gently, in a no threatening way. She took his gloved hand quickly and hopped down from her podium.

"You call yourself soldiers!" torn growled, he new the moral was bad, but he had just now realized how bad. "You act more like children, if we want to make it out of this suicide hole then you have to hold it together. You were the best, and If you made it this far its-"

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!" Some one yelled, the remark was followed by whoops and yells of approval. The atmosphere had suddenly gone bipolar. Torn just grumbled to himself.

"I'm tired…..I can't remember when I ate anything, and I nearly died several times, and I mean several!" Jules complained half heartedly as she slide into the both followed by Clue who was smirking to himself.

The military personnel to the left reformed itself into order and the discussion of their next move continued as if the whole incident had never happened.

"Next time you do something CRAZY! Tell me first, so I don't try to help you or anything…" Daxter said popping onto he table top pointing a finger at the woman.

"Alls I ever do is crazy stuff," Jules admitted with a sigh. Clue said something and put an arm around her shoulder, but Daxter didn't pay attention to the following conversation.

The otsel stood in front of his friend's slump form tentatively, "you okay?" he finally asked.

"Tired," Jak grumbled, never picking up his head.

"Seriously," Daxter started in, "are you alright cause you know, that was a little dramatic! You had me worried for a minute or two."

Jak snorted and sat up, "I'm good." He said simply. His right hand was still plastered over where the wound on his abdomen had been. The blood on his hands and tunic were still fresh, but all that was left of the injury was a pink scar, a stomach ache, and a migraine. He rubbed some of the drying blood off his fingers thoughtfully, he was still baffled. The pain of the shot didn't concern him much at the moment, or that he had lived, or even the fact that once again he had channeled white eco, for he had recognized it immediately. What bothered him was how opposite the healing of the wound had felt from the pian of its infliction, not pleasure, Just some unknown ineffable opposite of pain. To say the least it had been disturbing.

"…Ello, hey? You still in there?" Jak was jolted out of thought by clue's waving hand.

"What," Jak rubbed his face groggily.

"You've been sitting there staring off into to space for while now," the wastelander informed him. Jules was asleep, curled up against his side as he held her. For once the two struck him as an actual couple.

"I must have fallen asleep," he explained lamely. Clue shrugged with his free shoulder.

The bar was dim and quiet, just Torn and a few other crowded around the holo table and several more hunched over in sleep in the booths. Daxter was curled up in his lap and presumably asleep.

"By the way," clue said icily, "She is never getting gin a vehicle with you. Ever."

It didn't take a genius to figure out who 'She' was. Jak shrugged. There wan't much he could say to it, it was a hauntingly and oddly possessive statement, that reminded them again that they really were some dysfunctional couple. He hadn't really thought of them that way before.

"How'd you get into the city anyway," Jak asked changing the subject. This was only one a hundred questions streaming through his head, and something warned him to be subtle. Something that was highly uncharacteristic of him to warn himself about.

Clue's bout of cold possession melted away as if it had never happened, "sent out an old Kg distress signal, some hair brain pilot picked me up, thought I was you till she got there."

Jak nodded, "that easy?"

"Hell no that pilot had less brain cells than…….you remember Eruka? Less than that," he said flatly with half a snort.

Jak remembered the leader of the Spargus gang and found it hard to believe. He was quiet for a minute trying to figure out how best to broach the next question. He shook his head, he wasn't sure were it was come from but this subtly just wasn't his thing.

He threw caution to the wind, he wanted answers he wanted them now, "What the hell happened at the temple?"

Clue blinked in surprise, it wasn't the sort of thing he was expecting nor was it the kind of thing he felt inclined to talk about under the circumstances. But from the way Jak glared at him, that strange predatorily look , he found little choice.

"I'd have thought some like you would be grateful for that," the wastlander said evenly.

Jak's glare didn't waver, it wasn't the first time the precursors had done him a favor nor did he guess, pessimistically, would it be the last.

"That's not what I meant."

Clue shifted uncomfortably, "I don't really…"

Jak leaned forward, "What the hell was that? The oracle attacked you! What the fuck are you any way!" Jak said this rather loudly and torn and the handful of officers at the holo table shot them a few curios glances.

"A pain in the ass is what he is," Torn grumbled, before going back to his work.

Clue looked like he had just been struck.

Then his face was oddly vacant, like his personality had just seeped out along with the color in his face. For a long time he said nothing, just sat there staring at the table.

Jak sat back; maybe he wasn't going to get an answer. If he didn't get one he'd spend the rest of forever trying to figure out the answer to an impossible question. He had enough of those personally as it was.

"_Are you evil?"_

the child's voice echoed around inside his skull unexpectedly. Jak clenched his jaw and let his anger simmer. One more question with out an answer. Too many puzzles and too much at stake. He suddenly realized what kind of nerve his own question must have hit.

Clue looked up suddenly and gave him an icy glare and angrily patted down his pockets for a cigarette as if suddenly prompted by some foreign force.

He rolled the unlit cigarette between his fingers thoughtfully, "I don't know," he said finally seeming to address the cigarette more than Jak.

"Never mind," Jak said mostly to himself.

Clue snorted, "Alls I'm good for is party tricks, really," Jak heard a small static crackle then. He looked up, Clues elbow was propped straight up on the table, a little arc of blue eco ran jumped from his thumb to forefinger. He leaned his head forward and put the end of his cigarette through the arc till it started to smolder. The arc of blue eco vanished with a soft sizzle and he took a puff, "just party tricks compared to the shit you can pull off," He said actually looking at the blond. A strange silent understanding passed between them, "Though I can move pretty fast when I fell like it," clue added finally before the silence could turn stagnant.

"When you feel like it?" Jak repeated, feeling a little more at ease.

"Yes, that's the operative word," Clue said with a lazy hand gesture as he grinned around his cigarette.

Jak shook his head, that was as much of an answer as he was likely ever to get, and it wasn't really his business, "so, what's your grand plan now?" Jak asked looking at Jules. He had come to 'rescue her' he thought, amused by the notion, wondering if they would head to Spargus.

"Well…" the blue eco freak started, "I didn't think that far ahead. Planning is just planning for disaster" he informed him. "I don't like him…." He continued looking over in Torn's direction, "but after all this time I'd be a shame for this city to go under, so, if you don't mind Mr. Hero, I'd like to stick it out."

Jak gave him the look, he had worded that funny, there was something strangely cryptic about it if he ignored the last bit, "that's not my call…" he said finally, realizing that by that morning head be off doing Torns dirty work and playing hero again. He was actually mildly surprised by the wastelander's decision to stay. He didn't look to think to hard into his motives and didn't ask.

"just a few things I have to see through, you know?" he explained t hen blew a smoke ring, looked like his mind was in another place. Jak dind't knows what he was taking about and was tired. "I finally figured out who you remind me of," clue said after a minute, "Well not really but you make me think of him."

"Who?" he asked sounding only half interested.

"A old friend of mine, his name was Reece." He said sounding just as half interested. By now even torn had settled down for the night and that was last thing either of them said to each other. Jak even managed to get some sleep for once.


	31. anouncement

---Get your freak on---Detour

detour: if anyone still cares tosee this ride of a story finished please checkmy profile andclick get your freak on rewrite. I am rewriting and reworking the story in order to finish it. alot will change andalot will be the same.

hope some of you guys are still around and hope to get some reviews form you on the new story soon.

Leni


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